NGO warns that lack of security in Mocímboa da Praia villages is preventing voter registration

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NGO warns that lack of security in Mocímboa da Praia villages is preventing voter registration

11:35 CAT | 27 Mar 2018

EISA teams say voter registration brigades have told these individuals to return to their places of origin to register, as required by law, but the population is scared.

The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy, a Southern African non-governmental organisation, yesterday warned that lack of security in the Mocímboa da Praia area of northern Mozambique, with recurrent attacks by armed groups, was deterring potential voters from registering.

“There are refugees in the village [of Mocímba da Praia] because of the security situation in localities outside the municipal boundaries, who are being prevented from registering,” Miguel de Brito, the director of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy (EISA), told Lusa.

Villages outside Mocímboa da Praia in northern Mozambique have been the scene of attacks by an armed group of apparent Islamic inspiration, which in October last year killed two police officers and four other members of the security forces, besides vandalising homes and public infrastructures.

EISA teams say voter registration brigades have told these individuals to return to their places of origin to register, as required by law, but the population is scared.

“People are showing a bit of reluctance to return to their homes, because the situation is not yet stabilised,” de Brito added.

Lusa tried without success to contact the spokesperson for the National Election Commission (CNE) for comment.

Even so, de Brito gives a positive assessment of the first days of the census, while warning that 35 percent of the census points observed by the EISA teams were not accessible to citizens with disabilities.

“There is a need to improve training in the treatment of disabled people, the elderly, pregnant and nursing women in order to standardise the treatment of these groups,” he said.

The electoral register started on March 19 and ends on May 17.

The CNE is expecting of 8.5 million voters throughout the country to register, and 3,230 posts were set up in all the districts where the 53 municipalities are located.

The Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) mobilised 2,370 teams constituted by 7,242 agents for this process.

The voter cards allocated will be valid for the October 10 and also the 2019 general elections, although an update register for voters who turn 18 next year is planned.

Source: Lusa