The Minister of ICT and National Guidance Judith Nabakooba has urged Ugandans to scrutinize the information presented to them by presidential candidates so that they can pick the right leaders when voting in the coming year.
The ten presidential aspirants who were verified will be nominated today and tomorrow after which they are expected to unveil their manifestos.
“After the nominations, every candidate will have the opportunity to put forward their manifesto. Candidates are advised to maximize the virtual channels such as radio, TV, and social media when unveiling their manifestos,” the minister said.
“A manifesto is what every candidate promises to do when elected come January next year. I, therefore, call upon members of the public to scrutinize all the manifestos presented,” she went on.
“Let us study the manifestos and ask the hard questions on how each candidate plans to deliver on their promises. By doing this, we shall have actively engaged in conducting a free and fair election.”
Minister Nabakooba also called upon all presidential candidates to focus on selling their manifestos as opposed to attacking others.
“Candidates are reminded to be respectful of each other, avoiding slander and malice. This way, our country will be able to sail through this electoral process peacefully,” she said.
As the nominations kick off today, the presidential aspirants have been urged to desist from encouraging huge processions, or else they will be punished for defying Covid-19 guidelines.
“I want to call upon all candidates and members of the public to respect and go by the guidelines provided. First, we are reminded that the general public is not invited for the nomination activities,” the minister said.
“This has been done to comply with the existing Standard Operating Procedures against COVID-19. I, therefore, want to advise everyone to stay away from the nomination venue. Police will not hesitate to arrest anyone disobeying the guidelines.”
Uganda has so far confirmed 12743 cases of the coronavirus, 112 deaths and 7556 recoveries, according to the ministry of health data released on Sunday.
