Maputo, 19 Apr (AIM) – Voter registration for the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections, scheduled for 9 October, is still impossible in Quissanga district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, as a result of extreme violence carried out by Islamist terrorists.
According to the spokesperson of the National Elections Commission (CNE), Paulo Cuinica, who was speaking to reporters on Thursday, in Maputo, residents of Quissanga run the risk of being prevented from exercising their constitutional right to vote due to the difficulties in registering.
Voter registration is a pre-requisite for voting, and currently no registration posts are open in Quissanga.
Cuinica explained that those registration posts that were temporarily closed as a result of floods caused by torrential rains in southern Mozambique, especially Maputo city and Province, are now reopened, although there are still flooded places.
“We’re waiting for conditions to return to normality so that we can start registering again and see if we can register all the potential voters”, he said.
Regarding the CNE’s ongoing supervision of voter registration centers, he said, “it aims to assess on the ground how the registration is going, what difficulties may be encountered and what solutions can be found to these problems.”
The supervision has been taking place on a national scale since last Wednesday, with the participation of the vice-presidents and members of the CNE.
“It will help the electoral bodies to improve anything that isn’t going well, so that the registration can effectively reach the people that it is expected to reach so that they may exercise the right to vote on 9 October”, he said.
Asked about the budget needed to cover the voter registration process in this final phase, with just ten days to go before the end of registration, he pointed to a deficit of around 20 billion meticais (about 312 million dollars).
“We have a relatively large deficit. We are negotiating with the government, and we are looking for partners who can help meet the needs”, he said.
It is not only voter registration that is impossible in Quissanga. So is public health.
Every health unit in the district has been forced to close due to the jihadist attacks.
The Cabo Delgado provincial health directorate, cited by the independent television station STV, conformed the closure of all the health units, and the absence of health professionals from the district.
In addition to destroying and vandalising health units, the terrorists have stolen medicines and hospital equipment, including ambulances.
(AIM)
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