EC issues guidelines for Verification of Administrative Units ahead of Women Councils and Committee Elections

EC issues guidelines for Verification of Administrative Units ahead of Women Councils and Committee Elections. The Electoral Commission (Commission) is set to conduct the verification and confirmation exercise of all the administrative units across the country in consultation with the respective District/City administrative leadership.

The exercise is intended to enable the Commission to identify and harmonize any variance in the database of Administrative Units and recommend for removal of a village/cell that may illegally appear on the list without a Statutory Instrument starting on the 17th to the 26th of March 2022.

According to the current statistics as per the Electoral Commission database (2022), the number of Administrative Units in Uganda has increased since the completion of the 2021 General Elections electoral cycle to a total of 146 Districts/Cities, 2,211 Sub Counties/Towns/Municipal Divisions, 431 Wards in the cities, 10,259 Parishes/Wards in the districts, 70,512 Villages/cells.

Paul Bukenya the Ag. Spokesperson of the Electoral Commission says the verification and confirmation of Administrative Units countrywide is a very important exercise in preparation for the smooth organization and conduct of the coming Women Councils and Committees and the Administrative Units (LC 1 and LC 2) Elections which will be held soon this year (2022) and in 2023 consecutively.

“The exercise will help the Commission to confirm that the existing administrative units have been legally created by Statutory Instrument and that they are correctly located within their respectful and rightful Sub-county/Town Council/Municipal Division and Parish/Ward and; the names are correctly listed according to the District, Constituency, Sub-county/Town/Municipal Division, Parish/Ward and Village/Cell).

We urge all stakeholders to take note of the period for the exercise, and to participate in the confirmation of the Administrative Units in accordance with the guidelines set.”

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GUIDELINES FOR VERIFICATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS

Stage 1: Desk Verification Exercise (EC Headquarters and District/City Offices)

1. Request for list of administrative units from the Ministry of Local Government and the respective Districts/City Local Governments for harmonization with the Electoral Commission database;

2. Comparison of the submitted lists with the Electoral Commission database to  confirm the legality of the administrative units, that is, creation by Statutory Instrument;

3. Confirmation of placement of the administrative unit (village/cell) in the respective higher administrative level (parish/ward);

4. Compiling of lists of units of variance for verification and confirmation during the field exercise;

Stage 2: Field Verification Exercise

1. Stakeholder mobilization and engagement to create awareness on the purpose of the verification exercise;

2. Recruitment and training of verification officials

3. Preparation and production of materials for the verification exercise;

4. Delivery of materials to districts/cities;

5. Conduct of verification meetings at the sub county level;

6. Retrieval of verification returns to the district and finally the Electoral Commission headquarters;

Stage 3: Verification of Returns to produce a harmonized list of Administrative Units

1. Compilation of verified returns

2. Display of the verified and harmonized list at the sub county level;

3. Receiving and hearing any objections against inclusion/omission of administrative unit(s), and determining the complaints arising out of the verification exercise;

4. Publication of final harmonized list of administrative areas;

5. Dissemination of the final harmonized list to stakeholders;

Summary Program for the Conduct of Verification of Administrative Units, March-May 2022