NEC: We want civil society to be critical

According to the National Elections Commission’s representative in Yei River County, the commission wants civil society to take part in decision making and mobilise the people in the election process.

By Data Emmanuel, editor of Maruba Newsletter, CEAP

The National Elections Commission wants all civil society organisations to take active part in the election process and encourage people to participate.

“All civil society organisations should come to join in decision making so that we can coordinate in this process and make the registration period a busy time where people turn up to register,” says Simon Khamis Mabe, registration supervisor for the National Elections Commission in Yei River County.

“Civil society organisations should be able to monitor and be critical in order to adjust what the commission does if it is not in order for a successful election process,” he says.

But Simon Khamis Mabe is not impressed by the efforts done by the civil society organisations so far.

“It has been very unfortunate that in Yei, civil society has not been so active and marching on the forefront. These groups are supposed to be in close contact with the commission officials and leading the voter education using all the necessary materials such as posters, banners, music with loud speakers and encouraging people to come out and register,” he says.