Go Vote Your Reps!

The Monitor Editor | Tuesday November 16, 2021 06:00

The seats have been vacant for sometime following the deaths of the respective councillors. Restrictions brought about by the outbreak of COVID-19 prevented the vacant posts from being filled within the prescribed period. This left a considerable number of wards without representatives.

The vacuums left communities in those areas feeling neglected. Residents had thought government would move swiftly to fill the vacancies since most communities rely on their area councillors for their voices to be heard at councils.

Elections were delayed, and understandably so because, at the time, COVID-19 was wreaking havoc throughout the country, leading to restrictions that prohibited large gatherings. Some people felt the government should have benchmarked from other countries that were able to hold elections when the coronavirus infections were at their highest around the world. Now that the Elections Instruments have been issued, parties are racing against time to submit names of nominated candidates by November 26, 2021, with the day of elections set for December 18, 2021.

There have been talks doing rounds that most parties will not hold primaries to choose their representatives, but would rather decide to negotiate with those who had shown interest in contesting for the primaries to reach a compromise. While some, especially the party that won the ward, have decided it would be fair to field the person who came second to the deceased councillors who won at the previous elections, other parties have decided to field those that contested the 2019 General Election but lost.

The posts must be filled, and, understandably, the short notice is creating complications for some political parties, but then again all political parties knew the seats were vacant and should have been in talks about these issues way before the issuance of the nomination deadline and election date. The political space in recent years has become volatile, and the general public has become active in politics giving rise to debates on a variety of issues. Hopefully, the upcoming elections will go smoothly, and not create more problems for the contesting parties, because continuous bickering amongst political parties plays a part in voter apathy. Most people no longer trust politicians, and have since decided that there is no option for them.

It is not uncommon for political parties to play favouritism when fielding candidates, which is yet another major contributing factor to in-fighting, which often leave party supporters and some activities disgruntled.

Voters in the 11 wards should exercise their right to choose their representatives and go vote. Of course, the timing may be wrong, because the Christmas festivities will have started, but it is indeed important as we all have a stake and must vote!