In their own words

After the elections, ACFODE followed up some of the women the organization had trained prior to the elections. This was done through face to face interviews and through the use of telephony. The main objective of this exercise was to get the views of the interviewees about the whole electoral process (challenges faced, opportunities witnessed and recommendations to CSOs, NGOs and the government).

A number of points were raised. Below is an account;

Opportunities

Most of the women who were interviewed noted that they don’t face any form of violence. They actually applauded their families, friends and communities for giving them all the support they needed. This was not however the case in the past where women would be cast down while trying to participate in politics and other decision making processes right from family, community to national level.

The women also appreciated ACFODE’s training. Below are some of the skills they noted to have learnt which in the long run helped during the campaigns;
• Mingling with the voters, campaigning at every polling station in the area was one of the techniques acquired from the training.
• The knowledge of how to approach voters and how to present oneself to the voters was acquired from the training
• Visiting the voters in their home and work places and gardens created a one on one atmosphere that helped in canvassing votes
• Solidifying the agents supports and commitment helped a lot in canvassing votes
• Solidifying the support of loved ones such as the family members, relatives and friends was very helpful a technique that was acquired from the training
• How to relate to fellow contestants was one of the thing acquired from the training and it enabled attraction of favor from the voters

Challenges
• The demand for money and gifts from voters in exchange for votes made the campaigns very expensive
• Abusive language used by their opponents (fellow women) was hard to deal with for most of the contestants.
• People With Disabilities (PWD) contestants noted that they were disregarded and thought of as incapable in handling duties when they went to ask for votes from community members
• Others were discriminated basing on their religious background. Eunice Okullo from Lira said since she is a born again/ Christian, people thought that she was joking and did not believe her until the voting day when they found her name on the ballot paper.

Submitted By Sandra Nassali

Public Relations & Communications Officer

Action For Development