LC elections will be held as usual by lining up behind the candidates COMMENT | OBED K KATUREEBE | Uganda will be in election mode again tomorrow, July 28th. This time we shall be electing the Local Council One (LC1) chairpersons across the whole country. This is after several postponements due to lack of money to fund the grassroots elections.
The government of Uganda finally got the money, and the elections are now going to take place. The LC1 chairpersons play very critical roles in our communities across the country. What is amazing is the fact that they do all this on a voluntary basis, and yet the workload is so humongous.
They even work throughout the night, because people’s emergencies at times require their attention. According to research carried out by the judiciary and other arbitrating institutions, Local Council 1 chairpersons are critical in resolving local land disputes because they possess grassroots knowledge of community boundaries, historical occupancy and resident identities. They serve as the first point of mediation at the village level, helping neighbors settle boundary disagreements and verifying authentic landowners before formal, legal steps are taken.
In such circumstances they know who is being fraudulent because they have original information on land conflicts within their jurisdiction. When it comes to security in the villages, LC1 chairpersons play a very critical role. This is because a grassroots leader at the village or cell level is responsible for maintaining local security, resolving community disputes and connecting residents to the government.
The LC1 chairpersons work closely with security and the police to keep the village safe. As I earlier argued, LC1 chairpersons know who does what in their localities. It is easier for them to tell who is causing insecurity, be it locally generated or externally caused.
While looking for Ugandans to train for specific deployments that are sensitive, like those joining security forces, the LC1 chairpersons screen and recommend local people who want to join security forces like the police or army. They also settle small fights, family squabbles, domestic issues and minor land disagreements before they go to formal courts. They usually bring neighbours together to find peaceful agreements.
Summary from source