Maputo, 20 Mar (AIM) – The prominent Mozambican anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), has accused the electoral bodies of refusing to provide credentials for its reporters in order to cover the voter registration ahead of the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for 9 October.
According to a CIP statement, press credentials are being denied in Maputo city and province, as well as in Gaza, Nampula and Tete provinces, even though CIP submitted its requests in good time.
“In Cabo Delgado, Niassa, Sofala and Inhambane provinces, the requests were made less than a fortnight ago and the credentials were distributed yesterday (Monday 18 March)”, reads the CIP note.
Yet there is still no sign of credentials for Maputo city and province – even though the National Elections Commission (CNE) and is executive body, the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) have their head officers in Maputo.
Indeed, two days before the start of the voter registration (on 15 March), STAE returned the paperwork to CIP, allegedly because it contained irregularities. That was two weeks after the CIP request had been submitted. If it is true that there were “irregularities”, then STAE delayed for two weeks before informing CIP of the problem.
CIP has 400 correspondents scattered across the country, and their reports are vital for the publication of a regular bulletin on the elections, which is currently appearing once a day.
CIP’s work was crucial for exposing the many frauds and irregularities committed during last year’s voter registration, ahead of the municipal elections.
Despite the lack of credentials for all the provinces, the CIP bulletin has been able to show that many of the problems that plagued last year’s registration still persist. For example, in many registration posts, the computers (known as Mobile-IDs) and their printers are breaking down repeatedly.
Yet these problems were known last year. STAE has had plenty of time to repair or replace faulty computers and printers, but has not done so.
The result is that in many posts, potential voters find they cannot register, or, if they do register, that their voter cards cannot be printed. They are told to “come back tomorrow”.
In some parts of the country, the voter registration posts did not open at 07.00 on 15 March.
CIP found that in parts of Ile district, in Zambezia, registration only began on 19 March. This was blamed on a computer breakdown. The brigade members travelled into the countryside with their Mobile-ID out of order, and the situation was only solved late on Monday. Incredibly, the brigade members had not thought to check their equipment before setting out.
The same happened in Gilé district, also in Zambezia, where registration started with delays in some posts, because the Mobile-IDs had been programmed to operate as from 30 March, and so the programme did not open. Currently, it is impossible to judge whether such blunders are due to sabotage or to incompetence.
(AIM)
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