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At Elections Cater for People With Disabilities

(Crispy Kaheru, Kampala 29.12.09) I recently attended the launch of the human rights report by the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI). The report specially focused on the abuse of the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Uganda .

Even though the Government has excelled in laying down disability friendly policy frameworks through the Persons with Disabilities Act 2006, the breadth and implementation of these policies remains defective.

The Act provides guidelines in terms of the rights of PWDs in relation to subjects like access to education, health and employment services.

Where the Act has provided specific guidelines, both the Government and private agencies have done a relatively commendable job to promote and protect the rights and needs of PWDs in respective fields.

However, the optimism of PWDs has continued to wither in certain key areas like participation in electoral matters and access to transport services, where the Disability Act does not shade light. In the wake of the 2011 elections, the key question remains, how effectively will PWDs participate in the electoral activities?

In order for the PWDs to effectively take part in electoral events, the Government has to consider availing sign language interpreters at each of the campaigning activities. Informational material has to be translated into diverse forms like braille, audio, tactile, or pictorial to ensure easy accessibility by all categories of people. Election related events such as candidates' rallies, polling activities or even voter registration exercises should be situated in places that can be easily accessed by PWDs.

Prior to the 2006 general elections, members from the disability movement proposed the introduction of braille ballot papers for the blind voters.

However, the proposal seemed to have come at the last minute when the Electoral Commission (EC) had already finalised formalities of printing the ordinary ballot papers.

Therefore, as we embark on preparations for the 2011 election, the Government through the EC should endeavour to put in place special arrangements to accommodate PWDs in elections.

During the 2006 elections, at least 5% of the 10.5 million registered voters had a given form of disability - a significant fraction of these were visually impaired.

Out of these registered PWDs, a small percentage is thought to have participated in the polling exercises. Due to deficient conditions, other PWDs did not even get to the level of registering as voters.

Some countries have already taken special steps to elevate the position of the PWDs in this respect. Namibia was one of the first African countries to launch a crusade to guarantee the participation of PWDs in electoral matters in 2004.

It was recorded that out of Namibia 's 950,000 voters, who took part in the November 2004 general elections, 20,000 were blind and used braille ballots.

Therefore, in line with the current discourse on PWDs rights and electoral reforms in Uganda , there is an ardent need to focus on specific actions that will enhance full participation of PWDs in the electoral process.

Experiences from developed countries and some African countries can provide benchmarks for making disability friendly electoral systems.

One of the key tenets of democracy is participation. The wider the participating sample space, the more legitimate democratic processes are deemed to be. In a bid to ensure that PWDs enjoy their well-being, the Government has to ensure that they are part and parcel of all nation-building initiatives. Improving accessibility of PWDs to elections is inevitable if Uganda is to remain on a true democratic course.

The writer works with the Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda

Source: http://allafrica.com/