Political Parties Council call for $13.5 million pre-election fund
The Chairperson of the Political Parties Council, James Akol, called on the government to avail $13.5 million of the Political Parties Fund before the end of the mandate in June.
Addressing the media during the closure of the workshop for the commission on Friday, Akol stated that the council was cognisant of the urgency of the matter and had come up with eight action points to execute the duties.
“We have found that we have common areas of interest where we all merge and areas of overlap between us and the electoral bodies that are to be resourced. There is an urgent need to avail the Pre-Election Fund ($13.5 million) to the Political Parties Fund,” Akol stated.
Akol stated that the funding includes the expansion of the PPC to the states and three administrative areas.
“We all need to expand to the states, and we also need the government to influence the state level so that we can be able to do our work, and there is also a need for support from the judiciary’s organs.”
Akol urged the partners to the peace agreement to ask all political parties and coalitions to turn up for registration to meet that election deadline, adding that the PPC asked for consensus on the armed political parties aspiring to register for registration.
“We (PPC) know that there is ongoing integration and unification of forces, but the process may take long, and these parties are also parties to peace agreements; they are also aspiring to participate in the election,” he said.
“So, this needs a political decision to see the status of those political parties and whether there should be a consensus on how to register them while the integration process is ongoing or not.”
Akol urged the parties to the peace agreement to influence the state leaders to allow the expansion of the electoral bodies, including the PPC.
He stated that all the above-requested items need urgent decisions and reactions for PPC to achieve its mission and prepare political parties or aspirants to participate in the upcoming election.
According to Akol, all the above-requested items need urgent decisions and reactions for the PPC to achieve its mandate by the end of June 2024 and prepare political aspirants to participate in the December 2024 election.
The minister of cabinet affairs, Martin Elia Lomuro, stated that the political parties that registered made the work easier for the PPC ahead of the election.
According to Lomuro, the time will come for the government to allocate the necessary things ahead of the election in the country.
“There will come a point when we will not talk; we just need payment to be made and people to be given the chance to work.”
Lomuro stated that by the end of next month, everything will be clear since the country is moving in the right direction.
