The Electoral Commission(EC) has kicked off verification of administrative units and preparatory activities to conduct women councils and committees elections across the country.
EC chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama told The Nile Post that the current women councils and committees were elected during the period July – August 2018, and the executive committee of the National Women’s Council was constituted on 23rd – 24 August 2018.
“According to the National Women’s Council Act, the terms of office of the said councils and committees is four (4) years, implying their term will expire in August 2022,”he said.
Byabakama said that the current village LC 1 and LC 2 committees were elected in July 2018 and according to the Local Government Act, their term of office is five years, implying their term will expire in July 2023.
“The commission organised the training for the EC staff on the verification of administrative units on the conduct of elections of women councils and committees in Uganda,” he said.
He stated that the elections will be from the village to the national level held this year 2022, and Administrative Units (LC 1 and LC 2) elections to be held in 2023.
He said that during the conduct of those elections, the Commission observed challenges related to disputes over the legal establishment of some of the villages.
There were also disputes over the boundaries of some of the villages/cells, disputes over the placement of some villages/cells within particular sub counties.
He said that since 2018, the number of administrative units in Uganda has increased.
The current statistics as per the commission database are 146 districts, 2,211 sub-counties/towns and municipal divisions, 431 wards in cities, 10,259 parishes in districts and 70,512 villages/cells.
Byabakama noted that the commission will conduct a verification exercise of all administrative units across the country between 17 and 26 March 2022.
“The verification exercise will confirm that the existing administrative units have been legally created by statutory instrument as well as confirm that these units are correctly located within their respectful and rightful sub-county/town council/municipal division and parish/ward,”he noted.