Parkop urges leaders to respect, maintain trust in EC

By AILEEN KWARAGU
THE process and resolution of any general election start with Members of Parliament, National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop says.
He said the Electoral Commission had gone through challenges during General Election 2022 (GE22) because leaders themselves did not trust an institution of State.
Parkop was the last MP to be declared last Friday after five months of delays in polling and counting in the NCD regional seat.
He said all the delays and violence during the GE22 was a result of parliamentary leaders not trusting an institution of State that they represented.
“As leaders, we knew that the Electoral Commission was an independent constitutional office and it needed to be respected,” he said.
“The only way to maintain trust and confidence in the Electoral Commission would be for leaders to respect it.” Parkop said that even supporters of candidates who contested the GE22 did not trust leaders and the Electoral Commission.
“Over the course of the election, some leaders were accused of interfering with the Electoral Commission which resulted in delays and even violence,” he said.
Parkop said the first thing leaders should do to improve the system would be to instil trust and confidence in the system.
“We have to build trust and confidence between the people and the government system and that should start with leaders of the Parliament,” he said.