Mr Ally Chabwela displays his new voter card after he was registered in Bunju, Dar es Salaam, yesterday. The National Electoral Commission began registering voters electronically in a trial run in three regions. PHOTO | EMMANUEL HERMAN
What you need to know:
The exercise took off in Kawe, Kilombero and Katavi constituencies in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Katavi regions respectively.
Dar es Salaam. Poor turnout and technical hitches affecting biometric voter registration (BVR) kits were among problems that cropped up at the start of the pilot BVR study in three districts yesterday.
The exercise took off in Kawe, Kilombero and Katavi constituencies in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Katavi regions respectively.
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) is conducting the pilot study ahead of the January rollout of the BVR before the April referendum on the proposed new constitution and the 2015 General Election.
But the exercise that commenced in two wards in Kawe constituency in Kinondoni District experienced a low turnout with NEC officials manning the BVR kits at some point failing to operate them properly.
There has been fear that the BVR technology, if not well handled, could backfire like in a number of African countries that deployed them for elections. NEC, however, says it would only use the equipment for registration and not for the voting itself. The technical problems forced NEC officials to seek the assistance of Information Communications Technology (ICT) experts. According to NEC officials at different centres in Kawe constituency, one BVR kit can be used to register up to 200 people daily.
A survey by The Citizen in Bunju and Kunduchi wards where the exercise started found out that at every station there were at least two BVR machines and a maximum of six staff manning them.
However, people were not aware that there was such an exercise going on in their areas, with only those close to registration stations realising that the exercise had begun.
Those who were interviewed by The Citizen said they only became aware that NEC had begun registering voters through BVR after they passed closer to the stations when going to their routine businesses.
“I am glad that I saw officials here going on with the exercise and decided to postpone everything I wanted to do today because I know from tomorrow there might be long queues,’’ said Mr Ally Chabwela, who was among those who received the brand new voting card.
The 74-year-old, however commended, NEC for coming up with a new system of registering voters saying it was quick and that the voter ID he got was the best compared with the previous ones. Reports pointed out slightly more than 100 voters had listed in Kilombero on the first day.
Asked what was the election watchdog doing to ensure that people got information on the ongoing exercise to enable them turn up in bigger numbers during the one week set aside for the piloting phase, NEC Director of Elections Julius Malaba referred The Citizen to the Kinondoni municipal director.
“We have delegated powers to the Kinondoni municipal director to issue any information concerning the exercise because voter listing is currently taking place in his premises,’’ he said, adding that his office had been given powers to issue communication on the exercise before NEC officials are forced to intervene.
This comes at a time when various people including political party leaders are pointing an accusing finger at local government authorities when it comes to voter listing and elections. Last weekend’s polls that were presided over by the Regional Administration and Local Governments docket in the Prime Minister’s Office were marred by problems blamed on poor management.
The local government elections were characterised by fouls that were prompted by shortage of voting materials as well as the mixing up of the names of candidates.
As NEC continues with voter listing exercise questions linger as to whether local government officials are be able to oversee the exercise properly or not. Information gathered by The Citizen yesterday revealed that even as the seven-day pilot registration continues rolling in Kawe constituency, NEC has yet to be given money for registration of more that 20 million eligible voters countrywide.
Sources who preferred anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media said it was not clear if NEC officials that are currently going on with the exercise would be paid their allowances if the government will not immediately disburse the money to the election body.
“I can confidently tell you that the government is broke, because even our vehicles have no fuel as we speak,’’ claimed the source.
NEC is expected to traverse the entire nation to register all eligible voters from January 1 next year after assessing the ongoing pilot registration.
The time set for the national exercise is one month alone, a period that may be too little for the anticipated work, given the vastness of the country, the few available number of BVR kits and personnel needed for the mammoth work and the fact that NEC was still grappling with securing funds from the government.
About 8,000 BVR kits are expected to be used by the electoral commission to ensure that all voters are registered electronically before April but the number that had been requested by NEC was 15,500 BVR kits. Sources said even the scaled down number of kits have not been received, as only 250 kits needed for the pilot registration had been secured.
