COVER: NEC boss must be under Bunge: opinion

Dar es Salaam. The National Electoral Commission is autonomous despite various claims and allegations to the contrary, the chairman of the elections overseeing body has said.

Judge (rtd) Damina Lubuva says that even as it is true NEC’s structure and  that the procedures used to appoint commissioners and funding modalities makes it dependent on the executive, there has never been any evidence of the government’s interference in its operations.

There have been perceptions that NEC is not independent. Opposition politicians have, on several occasions said they do not trust the institution, which they say serves as an organ of the ruling party, CCM. In fact an independent NEC has been part of the reason that opposition political parties demanded a new constitution. Some of them have threatened to boycott the 2015 General Election unless reforms are made on the structure of NEC, to make it more independent. An agreement was reached last month between members of the Tanzania Centre for Democracy and President Jakaya Kikwete to amend the current constitution to provide for an independent NEC.

Secondary school students also blamed NEC for voter apathy and violence during elections. They were speaking at a forum on voters’ education last week. A survey conducted after the 2010 General Election also indicated that voters had no trust in NEC.

“Theoretically speaking NEC is not independent for the fact that the chairman and the commissioners are appointed by the president. Countrywide we also depend on the government’s officials who serve the functions of returning officers. This,  , fuels the perception that the body is not independent,” Judge Lubuva told a recent meeting organised by the Open Society Initiative.

But in reality the body is autonomous, he argued, and this could be vindicated by the fact that even the opposition has been able to win in elections. He said in the time that he has been chairman of NEC he has not observed or seen interference in the elections body’s activities from government or CCM officials. Judge Lubuva was appointed by President Kikwete to serve as chairman of NEC in December 2011. He replaced the late Lewis Makame who was the chairman of the body since the founding of the institution in 1993.

 Judge Lubuva admitted that there were challenges facing the institution, which should be overcome to increase NEC’s efficiency. These include shortage of staff and inadequate funding. NEC has only 128 staff members and most of them are in Dar es Salaam. It has no offices upcountry, a fact that necessitates reliance on government officials serving as returning officers during elections. It does not get its funds directly from the parliamentary allocations, instead the money is allocated from the government.

He said to highlight the independence of NEC it was better the commissioners were also appointed not by the President. He said NEC has failed to constantly update the voter register because the current system- Optical Marks Recognition- that is used is not efficient. That is why the process is underway to procure the Biometric Voter Register (BVR).

“We discussed deeply within NEC. We consulted widely with all concerned stakeholders including political parties and we came up with an agreement that we should employ the use of BVR. The system has been used, successfully, in Ghana, Zanzibar and Kenya.

What constitutes an independent NEC?

Speaking at the same event Jenerali Ulimwengu, the chairman of the Raia Mwema Newspapers said for NEC to be independent the chairman must be answerable to a parliamentary committee. It also must have a vote from the parliament which would ensure a steady flow of funding. It should also be audited by the Controller and Auditor General. It should employ competitive hiring that would include vetting of commissioners.

Debate over voters’ apathy

Judge Lubuva said voter apathy is a combination of many factors and so blaming NEC on the issue is missing the point. He said economic hardships and failure by politicians to deliver on their promises once elected could also be to blame for the low turnout for elections.

Data show, according to Judge Lubuva, voters turnout has been decreasing continuously since independence, despite the fact that the electoral body became more and more independent.

Soon after independence the Speaker of Parliament was the head of the elections body. Later a chairman was appointed but he also served as the head of a body handling elections petitions.

Christine Kamili from the Tanzania Coalition of Election Observers also agreed with Judge Lubuva. She said apathy is a function of leadership.

“People keep away from politics and elections because of failed leadership, because of leaders whose priority is self-interest,” Ms Kamili noted.

But Dr Hellen Kijo-Bisimba said serious allegations of rigging during elections are also to blame for apathy. “When people vote for a particular candidate only to see another controversially declared the winner, do you think they will bother casting their ballots in the next elections?” Dr Bisimba noted.

Controversy over BVR

Controversy marred the procurement of the BVR kits, with allegations that the cost was inflated. The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) was obliged to intervene to investigate how the second-phase of purchase process of biometric voter registration (BVR) equipment was conducted. 

The PPRA action came after reports that the multibillion tendering procedure was marred by irregularities. But NEC denied any wrongdoing on its part. The procurement watchdog was to investigate the controversy surrounding the award of $117 million (Sh196.5 billion) to a South African company to deliver BVR kits for registering about 23.9 million eligible voters from September to December 2014.

NEC was established in 1993 under Article 74(1) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977, the clause mandated to do so.

According to the article of the constitution the chairman of NEC must be a Judge of the High Court or the Court of Appeal of Tanzania or a lawyer who qualifies to be an advocate. NEC is also supposed to have a vice chairman who must also be a Judge of the High Court or the Court of Appeal of Tanzania or a lawyer who qualifies to be an advocate and he has been with such qualifications for not less than 15 years.