ISBN 9781920677978
Pages 312
Dimensions 244 x 170 mm
Published 2016
Publisher African Minds Publishers, South Africa
Format Paperback

Election Management Bodies in East Africa

by Alexander B. Makulilo, Eugène Ntaganda, Margaret Sekaggya, Patrick Osodo

The management of elections is increasingly generating impassioned debate in these East African nations - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The bodies that manage and conduct elections are, therefore, coming under intense citizen and stakeholder scrutiny for the manner in which they are composed, how they organise and perform their mandates, and the outcomes they achieve. The effectiveness of electoral management bodies (EMBs) has largely been influenced by the impact of political violence on election management reforms in East Africa. Even in countries where EMBs are the products of reforms initiated in the aftermath of violent disputes over elections, they still face enormous challenges in dealing with electoral disputes and anticipating election-related crises. Although changes to constitutions and the laws in these countries have sought to make EMBs independent and, therefore, more inclined to deliver free, fair and credible elections, there are many issues that determine their impartiality and their ability to allow for the aggregation and free expression of the will of the people. These shortcomings negatively impact on democracy. This volume assembles case studies on the capacity of EMBs in these five East African countries to deliver democratic and transparent elections.

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About the Authors

Alexander B. Makulilo

Dr Alexander B Makulilo is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Eugène Ntaganda

Eugène Ntaganda is a governance researcher who earned a Masters degree in international law from the University of Montreal in Canada in 1999. He has been an executive director of the Centre for Conflict Management, a policy research centre based at the University of Rwanda. He holds dual citizenship in Rwanda and Canada.

Margaret Sekaggya

Margaret Sekaggya was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in 2008. She has worked with the governments of Uganda and Zambia, as well as the United Nations, and taught law in various institutions. She has worked in the judiciary and was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Uganda. She was chairperson of the Coordination Committee of the Africa National Human Rights Institutions, the chairperson of the Ugandan Human Rights Commission and the chairperson of the Commonwealth National Human Rights Institution Forum.

Patrick Osodo

Patrick Osodo is an organisational development, governance and human rights professional with more than 20 years progressive experience in development management. He has held various senior programme management positions and worked extensively in consulting roles with a number of national and international non-governmental and governmental development organisations.