BY CORRESPONDENT
14th January 2014
Dubbed Democratic Empowerment Programme to Credible and Peaceful Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in 2015 and the Constitution Referendum, it is scheduled to start this year.
The funding agreement was signed in Dar es Salaam yesterday between the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on one hand, and the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) on the other.
The EU was represented by Ambassador Filiberto Sebregondi, while Resident Coordinator Alberic Kacou stood in for the UNDP. NEC was represented by Justice Damian Lubuva and ZEC by Jecha Salim.
Democratic empowerment programme is a three-year (2013-15) multi-donor initiative carrying a portfolio of 36bn/- in total and is managed by the UNDP.
Its objective is to support credible and peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections in 2015 and fund the constitutional referendum and the long term improvement of the electoral process.
Under the agreement financial, technical and operational support will be extended to both NEC and ZEC to plan for and conduct the upcoming General Election and the broader electoral governance system together with promoting legal and institutional reforms.
The project is also aimed at promoting voter education, foster democratic empowerment and citizens’ participation, notably for women, youth and people living with disabilities.
According Justice Lubuva, NEC has been cooperating with EU and UN for almost three years now. Their support was the result of a study conducted by the two organisations after the General Election in 2010 to identify the basic needs of NEC for the coming polls.
He said DEP will work closely with the police and local communities to help mitigate and resolve election related conflicts so as to ensure respect of human rights.
According to Ambassador Sebregondi democratisation, promotion of human rights and good governance are at the core of the EU’s identity and constitute the key objectives of its foreign and development policies.
They are not only a moral imperative but also the best guarantors for stability and prosperity, he underscored.
Ambassador Sebregondi also called upon NEC and ZEC to be accountable and transparent in the entire process of the preparation for the forthcoming General Election, especially by informing the public on the election funding and qualification of contestants.
Responding to a question on updating the voter register, Justice Lubuva said the Commission is working on the modalities of updating it and upon completion the public will be informed.
For his part, Justice Amiri Manento, Chairman of the Commission of Human Rights and Good Governance insisted that both NEC and ZEC should be honest, transparent and accountable to the people and to the government in managing the funds received to avoid embezzlement.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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