Clerics: Announce presidential election results at base

Tanzania Assemblies of God bishop Philemon Phiri makes remarks at a seminar for religious leaders held in Dar es Salaam yesterday. It was organised by National Electoral Commission.

Religious leaders have recommended that presidential election results be announced at constituency level – just like those in respect of parliamentary and civic polls.

 

They aired views to that effect during a meeting with National Electoral Commission (NEC) officers, saying doing so would enhance transparency in the collection, compilation and release of the results. 

 

“There are reports that results in the 2010 General Election were tampered with… We just want to know the strategies you have devised to control the situation in coming elections,” said Robert Charles, Head of the Social Services wing of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT).

 

The cleric also recommended that the results be categorised based on the voters’ gender and age.

 

Responding, NEC Commissioner Prof Amon Chaligha said the commission was working on modalities of organising a special meeting with leaders of political parties “to inform them how the vote tallying centres work”.

 

“The Election Act states that results for civic and parliamentary elections are announced by district returning officers… but only NEC is mandated to declare presidential results,” he said.However, he reassured the clerics that party leaders would be allowed to inspect the national vote tallying centres “to help minimise the number of complaints after the presidential results are announced”.

 

NEC Chairman Judge (rtd) Damian Lubuva meanwhile appealed to the religious leaders to exercise caution and desist from allowing politicians “to turn houses of worship into political platforms”.

 

He said the electoral commission values the contribution of clerics and other stakeholders in providing civic education to voters and the larger public. 

 

The primary objectives of yesterday’s conference, he noted, was to share information with the clerics on the coming (October) General Election and to receive opinions that could help ensure that the process is free, fair and transparent.

 

Lubuva explained that the commission was determined to ensure the provision of civic education in collaboration with as vast a range of stakeholders as possible – including private organisations. 

 

He said more doses of civic education and other relevant information concerning general elections would be made available through the media.

 

“We rely on you to educate voters so that they make informed decisions,” he said, reminding the clerics that the Election Act prohibits religious leaders from engaging in politics.

 

The conference brought together a wide spectrum of religious leaders from across Dar es Salaam, with Muslim Council of Tanzania (Bakwata) representative Shaaban Simba promising to encourage fellow leaders to preach peace “in an effort to ensure the October General Election runs smoothly and peacefully”.

 

Meanwhile, Lubuva said electronic registration of voters (supported by biometric voter registration – a BVR – kits) was completed successfully and verification of voters started in August 7, 2015 across Tanzania and voters can now confirm their information such as gender, location, date of birth and voting centres.

 

“The electoral commission is going on with modification of various systems to ensure smooth elections,” he said, adding: “We are creating a database that allows voters to verify their information via their mobile phones simply by dialling #152*00#.”

 

So far, over 24 million people have registered for the upcoming General Election, with the National Bureau of Statistics saying that is only 252,407 voters short of the targeted 24,253,541.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN