The Women Situation Room has asked security personnel to protect
election observers.
The women made the call on Tuesday, at Hotel Triangle in Mbarara
at the launch of the Situation Room call center. The center with a free call number
0800333436 will receive complaints from observers and citizens on election violence. 15,000
women and youth have been trained and will be deployed as observers across 33
different districts considered hot spots during the 2021 elections.
The call centers have been established in Mbarara, Kampala, Gulu and Soroti. For Mbarara,
the call centre will receive calls from all districts forming Ankole, Kigezi,
Toro, and Bunyoro.
Jocelyn Ekochu, the Executive Director CEWIGO and a member of the Eminent Women
in the women situation room says observers have been trained to assess the
situation and if there is any potential to violence they record and report
because they want peace to prevail in the country as Ugandans cast their votes.
//Cue in: “to the public…
Cue out: …supporting the country.//
The Women Situation Room is a coalition of women picked from other
Women organizations to provide knowledge and rapid response to electoral
violence before, during and after elections in African countries.
Prof. Joy Kwesiga, Vice-Chancellor Kabale University also an
eminent woman, says the women situation room works with other stakeholders
among others Police, Army, Electoral Commission, religious leaders’ that will
be tasked with responding to the raised complaints within the law.
//Cue in: “we a group…
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law.”//
Regina Bafaki, from ACFODE, asked
the candidates to maintain peace and accept the outcome of the results.
//Cue in: “people should know...
Cue out: ...acts of violence.
In Kasese, the Situation Room flagged off 30 observers ahead of the
elections.
Brenda Kugonza the Executive Director Women Human Rights Defenders
Network Uganda- WHRDN-U said the observers will respond on time to incidents of
violence.
She says they want the voting process to be peaceful platform where youth, women
and all other Ugandans will freely express themselves.
The Kasese District Registrar Atwijukire Ismail Takih asked
the observers to be objective and independent in their reporting.
