The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has postponed some of the activities on the calendar of local elections which are slated for February 2021. Speaking to The New Times, the Executive Secretary for NEC, Charles Munyaneza said that the recent cabinet resolutions halted social gatherings, which are one of the activities that take place ahead of the polls. This followed the increase in daily numbers of Covid-19 cases in the country, which has also been occasioned with a spike in the number of deaths attributable to the virus. “Before a national election like this, we often take time to meet the electorate for various activities, including civic education. However, these activities involve social gatherings. After being halted as part of the cabinet resolutions, we decided to push them,” he noted. The electoral body also pushed the submission of candidatures for prospective members of district executive committees which was set to start on December 28 to January 11. This activity will until the 22nd date of the same month. According to Munyaneza, elections at the village level were also pushed to February 20 instead of February 6. Elections at the district level will also be conducted on March 5 instead of March 2 as per the original calendar. Earlier, the electoral body had expressed concerns over the feasibility of the polls with the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic. However, as cases started to subside, a cabinet meeting approved that they go on with the observance of Covid-19 preventive measures especially social distancing. The local elections are held every after five years. They were last held in 2016.
