Female Legislators Worried About the Reversed Electoral Road Map – 2021
By Admin
The Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) has today come out to register their discontent with the revised electoral roadmap of 2021 general elections which restricts campaigns on digital platforms.
Addressing the press at parliament, the female legislators noted that ownership of radio sets and mobile sets at a household level is mostly in the hands of the men which will affect the women’s access to information hence disabling them to make informed decisions.
They claim the roadmap is discriminatory to women and people with disabilities. UWOPA has asked the government to waive off (OTT) tax in order to boost accessibility to information
Although the Parliament of Uganda approved the 2021 electoral roadmap and government regulations on political parties, today female members of parliament under their association of Uganda Women Parliamentary Association have come out to show displeasure with the revised electoral Roadmap which they believe will affect women much.
Female MPs noted that the ban on public mass campaigns will have a toll on their expenditure since district women representatives have larger constituencies compared to direct MPs. They also showed concerns that Women will find it to access media platforms to campaign claiming many media organizations are too distant from their political jurisdictions.
Pamela Kaugo the UWOPA chairperson tasked the government to work hard and cut the cost of electricity, internet and also waive off tax like OTT which limits access to information. This will not only ease the access to information 0but will also provide an efficient platform for digital campaigns
UWOPA is also concerned that digital campaigns will be hard to regulate by an authority which will give bad political elements to malice their competitors for their political interests. They now ask the government to facilitate the Uganda communications commission to take charge of bad politics.
Lawmakers are also concerned with the limited coverage of media coverage which is likely to limit access to information.
