CITIZENS EFFORT IN ELECTIONS MONITORING PROCESS:

Greetings from the Rwenzori region, and updates on the planned citizens based action on elections monitoring process.

Rwenzori Consortium for Civic Competence (RWECO) has been joined by Kabarole Resource and Research Centre and Rwenzori Anticorruption Coalition to form an elections process monitoring platform that will monitor the electoral process in all the districts of the Rwenzori region (Kasese, Bundibugyo, Kabarole, Kamwenge and Kyenjojo (and the new creations thereof)).This brings a total of 77 sub counties (and new creations thereof) and about 1500 polling stations.

Amongst themselves RWECO and her partners already have a total of 700 grassroots monitors in all the sub counties of the mentioned Districts who are tracking service delivery and holding leaders accountable. These will be mobilized and additional 800 more recruited so each polling station is overseen by a monitor over the entire period of the electoral process (voter registration, display of registers, candidate registration, campaigns, actual polling and post elections).

RWECO plan to use web based tools to document and report on the electoral process and organize interface occasions between the citizens and the relevant electoral stakeholders to demand for and cause action on the issues documented and reported by the citizens.

Also, we intend to mobilize the citizens to formulate a citizen manifesto that will guide them to effectively engage with different candidates who will stand for different positions. We shall popularize the concept of citizens’ manifesto to influence or guide the way grassroots choose their leaders and hold them accountable.

Finally we intend to mainstream and promote peaceful resolution and management of conflicts in the electoral process and post election. We shall promote dialogue at all stages and among candidates and other stakeholders.

The uniqueness of this project is that it empowers citizens to mobilize each other, using a mix of both traditional and web based information and communications technologies, to participate actively in all stages of the electoral process and ensuring the process is free and fair.
It also links elections to the wider good governance picture by empowering citizens to make informed choices in choosing leaders based on mutually agreed terms of reference against which they will hold the leaders accountable. For instance, we plan to ask each person seeking leadership position to sign with the citizens a commitment to fight corruption once in power. The citizens will then hold this leader accountable by the signed commitment they make.