The outgoing Chairman of Independent Electoral Commission Eng. Badru Kiggundu will be hard to replace, The New Vision Chief Executive Officer, Robert Kabushenga, has said.
According to Kabushenga, despite the insults Eng. Kiggundu has faced over the last 15 years while at the helm of the electoral body, he has remained calm, amiable and approachable.
“It is hard to get a person of character, notwithstanding the abuses and insults; you have remained accessible and amiable. Few people know what it takes to be head of an organization,” Kabushenga said, adding: “One of the qualities of Eng. Kiggundu’s successor should be that person is a cool headed individual.”
Kabushenga made the remarks while contributing to discussions on the challenges the Ugandan media experienced while covering the 2016 general elections.
Under the theme ‘post-election evaluation workshop on media coverage of the 2016 general elections’, today both the IEC and media came together to share challenges they faced during and after elections.
Kabushenga said the five-year period under which elections are organized is very short and expensive and that Uganda should think beyond that time frame.
He also challenged the IEC to consider setting up its printery or consider local printers when it comes to printing ballot papers.
“However, with the raging suspicion against the Commission it would be hard for all political players to allow such a move and yet it would save the country a lot,” he observed.
On his part, Kiggundu thanked the media and said EC has adopted extensive media friendly approaches and policies to support and promote the coverage of elections in Uganda.
“On behalf of the Electoral Commission and on my behalf, I would like to extend our sincere and deep appreciation for the support you have rendered to our institution during my tenure as chairman EC, and especially during the recently concluded general elections of 2016,” Eng. Kiggundu, whose tenure at IEC ends this month, said.
