The Uganda Electoral Commission Justice Simon Byabakama has flagged off the first batch of voting materials to different parts of the country ahead of the highly anticipated national polls on Thursday next week.
Justice Byabakama, who flagged off the materials that include ballot papers and biometric machines on Wednesday at the EC warehouse in Ntinda, assured the country that all polling materials will reach their designated polling stations in time.
“I want to assure the country that they will be safely stored at the various destinations where they are going” he said.
Justice Byamukama added, “Today isn’t going to mark the whole complete process of the entire delivery of the materials, it’s the beginning, and we hope in due course, we shall continue to dispatch as and when we are ready”.
Byamukama further reasserted that the commission will have all the required materials at every polling station in the country on the 15th of next week.
The commission secretary Richard Kamugisha Baabo noted that each polling kit has been securely packed in metallic cases and is uniquely designated to a specific polling station.
Kamugisha emphasised that the kits are not interchangeable, noting that if a kit is misplaced, another polling station’s materials cannot be used as a substitute.
The first phase of distribution will cover 12 districts, including Hoima City, Masaka City, Luwero, Mitooma, Bukedea, Dokolo, Abim, Namayingo, and Wakiso, among others.
The dispatch comes a day after the commission commenced the issuance of the photo-bearing National Voters’ Register to presidential candidates’ camps.
