Eng. James Akol, the Chairperson of the Political Parties’ Council during Dawn show on Tuesday Dec. 19, 2023 - Moses Awan/Eye Radio

The Chairperson of the Political Parties’ Council is calling on the parties to register within six months starting January 2024.

Engineer James Akol Zakayo said for a party to participate in the election, it must register 180 days before the conduct of the polls.

This means by June, all political parties to contest should have been registered.

James said the parties first must start with the provisional registration and end with full registration.

He added that the application for the proposed political party should be in writing, signed by the applicants -of whom 35 per cent must be women.

It should also be accompanied by the constitution of the proposed party, a signed resolution of the first meeting of the founding members, policies, plans, and manifesto.

Other requirements include a list of party-political leaders, proposed party name, emblem and logo, and prescribed fees.

The political parties’ council will then within 30 days of the application issue a certificate of provisional registration.

James added that a political party that has been provisionally registered shall no later than 180 days from the date of provisional registration apply to the council for full registration.

“We plan to start registration in January, so whoever is ready to participate in the elections is having enough time now to register for the elections. You can’t be registered unless you have finished 180 days,” James told Eye Radio Dawn show on Tuesday.

“A political party whose registration has expired under subsection 7 of this section shall be barred from reapplying until this section continues 12 months,” he said.

“You will not apply again for provisional registration until a period of 12 months. So, you need to do your homework and you need to speed up to register within 6 months, otherwise, you will have to wait another 12 months to reapply again.”