Article 17 of the Constitution of Uganda outlines the duties of a citizen, including respecting national symbols, protecting public property, paying taxes, cooperating with law enforcement, and defending the country. The same article reading further stipulates other duties of a citizen however for purposes of this story we shall concentrate on the duty to,” register for lawful purposes: Citizens are required to register for electoral and other lawful purposes.”
At the beginning of this election cycle the Electoral Commission called on all citizens that are 18years and above and have never registered to participate in the elections to go to the designated places and be registered.
In the same call, the Electoral Commission asked citizens that were already registered to visit the same designated places to either update their details(for those that needed to) or confirm that their names appear on the voters register and all related information was captured correctly.
The Electoral Commission set aside over 30 days for this exercise and in some areas there were extensions to ensure that every citizen that falls within the voting bracket is covered. In essence we can say that the government did its part to ensure that the citizens fulfil one of their duties as enshrined in article 17 of the constitution.
And the Citizens? At first, they did not take the exercise seriously at least going by the turn up in the different gazetted locations. There were also some frustrations emanating from the Electoral Commission personnel and equipment. However, the Electoral Commission leadership did their very best to resolve any glitches to ensure the exercise goes on smoothly. As is the norm for most Ugandans, they decided to flock the gazetted places at the tail end of the exercise and this was after confirming from the Electoral Commission Officials that there will be no extensions of the deadline.
In the process there was a considerable number of eligible voters that were left out. Unfortunately, these would be voters want to blame their not getting registered on to the Electoral Commission. They do not want to admit that they failed in fulfilling their responsibilities (by not turning up) and hence violated article 17 of the constitution. In other words they deliberately refused to participate in the registration for lawful purposes.
Unfortunately these same would be voters are currently part of the crowds that we see at the different campaign rallies of the different candidates. It is not a crime to attend these rallies however it gives a false hope to a candidate who relies on the crowds that attend their rallies to measure their strength and therefore forecast the outcome of the election.
We should note that the government set aside funds for the exercise and for a citizen to not participate in such a legal exercise denies the government an opportunity to realise value for money and hence to some extent there was a wastage. Unfortunately, the same citizens that deliberately neglected their responsibilities, are the same that will accuse government for wasteful expenditure.
Many of our citizens do not know that taking lawful government programs for granted and non-participation is tantamount to breaking the law and this can attract fines and penalties. There is need to empower our local leaders more (at the village level) so that they can do properly structured sensitization of the citizens on their roles and expectations.
Do not ask what Uganda has done for you but rather ask what you have done for Uganda. The least every citizen could do for their country is to obey the constitution of Uganda. We can start by each one doing what is expected of them.