The deadly COVID-19 pandemic cannot guarantee a declaration of state of emergency in the country and therefore there is no need to postpone the upcoming 2021 general elections, the Government of Uganda has revealed.
This was revealed by Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs while appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee today as he made a justification for revising the road map by the Electoral Commission to ban mass rallies in 2021 general elections in favour of digital campaigns.
Kamuntu noted that the experience government has had with COVID-19 has showed that this pandemic can be managed without postponing elections since there is no any insurgency in the country.
At the same meeting, the chairman of the Electoral commission Justice Simon Byabakama said the revised roadmap was reached after consultation with ministry of health, who are the key experts in the fight against COVID-19.
He said the experts advised that there is no way the crowds that turn up for mass campaigns can observe the health guidelines that where put in place by ministry of health to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
However, Asuman Basalirwa (Bugiri Municipality) challenged Ministry Of Health to produce the legal framework they banked on to stop mass campaigns and public meetings.
