Government is pushing non-unionized workers to participate in the elections of the Workers representative. This after , government allowed workers who are not registered by the 44 Trade unions in the country to also participate in the elections of the five worker’s Members of Parliament.
The Parliamentary Elections Act provides that workers’ MPs are elected through an electoral college composed of the registered labour unions and 10 delegates representing non-unionized workers in each of the five regions.
Mr. Aggrey Kibenge, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Gender,Labour and Social Development said guidelines have been set up on how and who will particpiapate in the voting by the non -unionized workers. “ Only workers with work Identity cards, valid work contracts, above 18 years old and have a national ID and a registered voter will be eligible to register as a non-unionized worker, “ officials said.
Kibenge has urged workers in the five regions of Uganda , namely North, East, West, South and Central to register to participate in the elections. The PS said that by allowing non-unionised workers participate in the elections of their parliamentary workers representatives would cover all segments of workers in the country and conform to the Constitutional provisions for equal representation .
Every Sub-county, town, and Municipality shall nominate 10 delegates, with at least three women to the district conference.
The district non-unionized workers conference t will nominate 10 delegates with at least three women to the regional non-unionized workers’ conference for purpose of nominating the delegates for each region to the Electoral College for electing the workers representing in parliament.
The Registration of non-unionised workers at Sub County or town and Municipality levels will be conducted on Wednesday 25th November to 27th November, 2020. Municipal, Division and sub-county conferences will be held on 4th December for the Electoral Commission to conduct elections of the non-unionized workers’ delegates.
And elections of the MPs will be held on January 17 and 18, 2021 according to the Electoral Commissions roadmap.
The Central Organization of Free Trade Unions-COFTU is in charge of 24 affiliated national unions and 112 District Workers’ Forums, while the National Organization of Trade Union (NOTU) is responsible for 23 unions affiliated to it and Independent Union (IU).
All the trade unions operate under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development says that allowing non-unionized from the five regions to vote will close the gap that initially existed.
