Referendum put off indefinitely

By Sylivester Domasa

NEC chairman Judge (rtd) Damian Lubuva (C) with his deputy, former Zanzibar Chief Justice Hamid Mahmoud (L), and Director of Elections Julius Malaba, when addressing a news conference in Dsm.

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has indefinitely called off the planned April 30 referendum, citing delays in the biometric voter registration (BVR).

 

“The new referendum date will be announced later this year after internal consultation with the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC),” the NEC Chairperson Judge (rtd) Damian Lubuva told a press conference yesterday in Dar es Salaam.

 

“The new date will also heavily depend on the completion of the ongoing biometric voter registration,” he added.

 

He went on to note that at least USD72million (about 133.3bn/-) has been given to NEC by the government to procure the required BVR kits. 

“The commission projects that in July it will have completed updating the voters’ register,’ he said.

 

The development comes but a day after Members of the Parliament (MPs) especially from the opposition demanded the government gives a statement on the controversies surrounding voters’ registration through BVR.

 

“For the referendum and General Election to be conducted, it is imperative for the voters’ register to be updated,” Justice Lubuva noted.

 

“As soon as the ongoing registration is completed, the referendum will be carried out,” he reassured the public.

 

“Experience from the pilot project in Njombe Region has shown a good turnout of people interested to be registered,” he went on to say “…so once the exercise in Njombe is completed on April 18, the registration will move to Lindi, Mtwara, Iringa and then Ruvuma,” he revealed.

 

He challenged local government authorities to help raise public awareness to turn-up and register for the updated voters register.