ECD hold meeting with DUSA Aspirants

By Muhanguzi Tola

tolakofa1@gmail.com

The Electoral Commission of Daystar (ECD) today held a meeting with DUSA council and congress aspirants at the Athi River campus to address election guidelines.

Among the issues addressed in the meeting chaired by ECD CEO Michael Mwanza were voter bribery, character defamation during the campaign period, the calendar of events and voter education on the upcoming elections.

The commission promised to send out communication on how the whole voting process shall be conducted. This is necessitated by the ‘silence of the constitution’ in critical aspects such as how the congress votes for the Governor’s seat aspirants.

“We will liaise with the current DUSA officials on the constitution amendments then send out information to students explaining how voting will be done,” said Michael Mwanza.

The commission has also released a calendar of events for the voting process. According to it, the campaign period that was scheduled to begin yesterday will take seven days after which congress elections immediately begin.

However, the commission has revised the calendar, making changes to the campaign period, which is now scheduled to begin on March 19.

The commission will also spearhead a debate session next week where the aspirants will air out their manifesto and address questions from students.

The commissioner’s vice-chair- Elizabeth Waudo, who was also in attendance, commended the team for the smooth two-day vetting process that took place at the Athi- River campus.

“The vetting was competitive and aspirants were up to per. For some, it was the GPA that disqualified them while others had not completed the mandated hours,” said Elizabeth.

The vice chair further promised students a free and fair election process which shall involve all the required parties.

“As the committee, we believe in accountability and fairness, and that is how we shall conduct the process,” continued Elizabeth.

However, the commission’s handling of the elections and vetting process was questioned during the meeting. Among the issues raised by the aspirants include disqualification of aspirants who had all the necessary requirements, DUSA’s direct involvement in the electoral process and the lack of clarity in constitution matters.

“I don’t understand why a sitting government should be part of an electoral process. For a free and fair process, we should disassociate DUSA from elections completely,” said Ian Agina, an aspirant vying for the council chair seat.