THE Electoral Commission has indicated that it will consider any proposal to give live media coverage to the conduct of the 2010 district level elections as a way of encouraging citizens to participate.
It, however, cautioned that its budget may not be able to support any extensive coverage that would come along with a greater cost.
The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Finance and Administration, Mr David Kanga, made these known at a regional media dialogue on the 2010 district level elections, which has been scheduled for December 28.
The workshop, organised in collaboration with KAB Governance Consult and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, sought to sensitise media practitioners on the changes in the legal framework governing district level elections, as well as seek their input towards making the exercise successful.
Mr Kanga noted that unlike the general elections, where the media showed much enthusiasm and significance by giving it live coverage, the district level elections (DLE) suffered a near media blackout.
He said it was the EC’s wish that the media would have given much prominence to DLE, but noted that the reality on the ground was that the media focused less on this exercise and this had contributed, partly, to the voter apathy exhibited during DLE.
Mr Kanga said the EC and its partners would consider any proposal suggesting ways of hyping the DLE in the media so as to generate enough interest in the exercise.
He said “not only should the media hype the DLE, but it should also sensitise the voters on the voting procedures and the importance of the exercise.”
He, however, cautioned media practitioners not to allow discussions on DLE to be conducted on partisan lines, since the current law did not allow district level aspirants to align themselves with any political party.
The deputy commissioner explained that local level elections were so critical to national development because it was the heartbeat of the country’s democracy.
“Our democracy is founded on the principles of giving power to the people by decentralising decision-making. It is these district level leaders who begin the process and so citizens must show interest in choosing who represents them at this level,” he explained.
Mr Kanga said, hopefully, the date for the 2010 DLE would not be rescheduled if by the end of November, Parliament passed into law the new legal regimes governing DLE, which contained changes such as the reduction of the number of unit committees and the liberalisation of the mounting of platform by candidates in a limited way.
The media practitioners made various recommendations to the EC towards improving the public’s awareness and interest about the exercise, some of which included using popular and hilarious personalities to conduct the awareness campaign and deepening the involvement of chiefs.
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