A study by the Women’s Democracy Network and Innovations for Democratic Engagement and Action has revealed that the 2021 elections will be violent.
Findings of the study conducted between April and March 2019 show that 89 percent of the voters interviewed predict violent polls.
A total of 450 people from 13 regions around the country took part in the study. The study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature.
The survey shows that violence has become part and partial of elections in the country.
81.5 percent of the respondents said they had experienced violence during political party primary elections while 78.5 percent experienced it during the previous presidential elections.
Joel Kiija, the lead researcher of the study, says the findings show that election violence is likely to occur in the coming elections.
He says electoral violence is likely to occur in some parts of the country like Kabale due to tribal tensions and oppression of opposition groups by security agencies.
The study also highlights the misinterpretation of the Public Order Management Act by police as one of the possible triggers of electoral violence.
Physical violence was the most common form of violence accounting for 58.1 percent of the cases reported in the previous polls followed by verbal intimidation.
Guns and bullets were cited as the most commonly used tools during violent situations followed by verbal intimidation.
According to the study, most cases of violence in the previous polls were perpetrated by youths, most of whom were unemployed.
It also shows that security operatives like the police, opposition polling agents and women started some sort of violence during previous elections.
Jackie Asiimwe, a civil rights activist says the findings are true because violence has become a common occurrence during and after elections in the country.
She says the lack of accountability for violence is going to encourage occurrences.
The study recommends that the Electoral Commission comes up with a code of conduct and guidelines to be followed by all political parties and candidates.
It also suggests that all candidates or government officials involved in any acts of violence should be penalized by being disqualified or personally held accountable for their actions.
It also calls for electoral reforms to make sure that past makes are not repeated in the coming elections.
Asiimwe adds that more political tolerance is needed in the country. She says the use of inflammatory language starts violence and as such should be avoided.
Credit – urn