Uganda's Electoral Commission (EC) has announced to buy 50,000 translucent ballot boxes for next year's general elections.

EC Chairman Badru Kiggundu was quoted by local newspaper The New Vision as saying on Wednesday that the EC had budgeted for 3 billion shillings (1.65 million US dollars) for importing the translucent ballot boxes.

"Currently, we have 50,000 black ballot boxes but we are adding 50,000 translucent ones due to the increase in the number of polling stations. They may not be glass but will be transparent. It's costly but it's all about openness and transparency," he said.

He said similar ballot boxes were used in elections in Ghana and recently in Burundi.

Kiggundu said the money would also be used for printing close to 11 million ballot papers.

Uganda will hold its first multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections on March 12, 2006 since the ruling National Resistance Movement took power in 1986.

Source: Xinhua