Geza Ulole
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 31, 2009
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Igunga: Many voters ‘to be left out'
Tuesday, 27 September 2011 22:19
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[Igunga residents wait for the arrival yesterday of two helicopters leased by CCM for its campaign ahead of Sunday's parliamentary by-election. The party will be seeking to retain the seat in the election following Mr Rostam Aziz's resignation in July. PHOTO | emmanuel herman]
Igunga residents wait for the arrival yesterday of two helicopters leased by CCM for its campaign ahead of Sunday's parliamentary by-election. The party will be seeking to retain the seat in the election following Mr Rostam Aziz's resignation in July. PHOTO | emmanuel herman
By The Citizen Team
Dar es Salaam and Igunga. With only four days before voters in Igunga get the opportunity to elect their new Member of Parliament, the Tanzania Civil Society Consortium for Election Observation (Tacceo) warned yesterday that a number of potential voters would miss the chance.
Failure by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to update the Permanent Voter Register (PVR) would see some voters miss the opportunity to cast their ballots, Tacceo chairwoman Martina Kabisama said yesterday.In Igunga, three major parties tipped to win the election namely the Civic United Front, Chama Cha Mapinduzi and Chadema continued to trade blame, with each accusing its rival of mischief.
Ms Kabisama told a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that their observers in Igunga had established that some people who are qualified to vote would be locked out of the process because of a lack of voters' identification cards.
"It is alarming that many wananchi will be denied the right to choose their representative due to failure by NEC to update the PVR… for example, there are those who were not registered in 2009 because they were below the voting age, others who have since moved to Igunga as well as those who have lost their voting cards," she said.
Ms Kabisama said when Tacceo surveyors inquired from one of the officials at the office of the Igunga returning officer - only identified as Ms Martha - she told them that NEC had no money and facilities to update the PVR.
Efforts to seek clarification from NEC hit a snag after director of elections Rajabu Kiravu declined to comment on the matter arguing that he was not in the office.
According to Tacceo coordinator Merick Luvinga, the Constitution requires NEC to update the voters' register "when there is a need to do so." Ms Kabisama also urged the authorities to intervene on the tendency by some of the politicians in Igunga to buy voters registration cards, warning that it was against the law.She also condemned incidents of violation of human rights which have been marring campaign rallies in the constituency.
CUF accusations
Meanwhile, CUF yesterday accused CCM of planning to use sugar to bribe voters in Igunga.
Speaking to journalists during a press conference in Igunga yesterday, CUF deputy secretary general Julius Mtatiro said the party had discovered seven lorries laden with sugar which was intended for distribution in the area.
According to Mr Mtatiro, the source of the sugar was Tarime where the police impounded it recently.
"We are currently monitoring the movement of the lorries and intend to arrest them ourselves because if we let the police get involved they would help the culprits escape," he said.
Mr Mtatiro also criticised plans by CCM to distribute food between September 30 and October 1 to all villages in Igunga.
He said his party understood that there was a food distribution exercise going on due to the hunger that has rocked the constituency, but the distribution was done from one village to another and not simultaneously in the whole of Igunga.
CCM Vs Chadema
He also said CCM had trained a group of youths that currently camped in Shinyanga with the aim of terrorising voters. Mr Mtatiro told journalists that the group would enter Igunga today in the evening with the aim of going around scaring people in villages to vote for the ruling party.However, CCM's head of Igunga by-election campaigns Mwigulu Mwinchemba denied all the allegations when reached for comment.
"We have no such plans and in so far as the food distribution is concerned, this exercise has been going on even before the by-election campaigns started," he said.He instead accused rival Chadema of planning to announce election results to declare victory for their candidate before NEC did so.
But Chadema hit back by accusing the ruling party of planning to ferry a group of voters from a number of regions including Dar es Salaam, in an "ill mission" to boost their chances of winning.CCM Central Committee member Steven Wassira told reporters that Chadema's ploy was aimed at showing that they have been denied victory.
Mr wassira, who also doubles as the minister of State in the President's Office responsible for Civil Society Relations and Coordination, said they had already informed the security organs on the issue.
"We want the state bodies to educate wananchi in Igunga on the electoral process to prevent them from being taken for a ride," he said, adding that CCM would also use their campaign rallies to educate the people.
Reported by Daria Erasto and Frank Kimboy (Dar es Salaam) and Ray Naluyaga and Daniel Mjema (Igunga)
Igunga: Many voters
MY TAKE
Hapa ndipo CCM watakapotupiga bado! mamaye zao hawa wanaharamu ati NEC haina hela za kutosha ku-update daftari la wapiga kura na kutoa vitambulisho kwa wapiga kura wapya! fnyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..........manina zao!
Tuesday, 27 September 2011 22:19
digg
[Igunga residents wait for the arrival yesterday of two helicopters leased by CCM for its campaign ahead of Sunday's parliamentary by-election. The party will be seeking to retain the seat in the election following Mr Rostam Aziz's resignation in July. PHOTO | emmanuel herman]
Igunga residents wait for the arrival yesterday of two helicopters leased by CCM for its campaign ahead of Sunday's parliamentary by-election. The party will be seeking to retain the seat in the election following Mr Rostam Aziz's resignation in July. PHOTO | emmanuel herman
By The Citizen Team
Dar es Salaam and Igunga. With only four days before voters in Igunga get the opportunity to elect their new Member of Parliament, the Tanzania Civil Society Consortium for Election Observation (Tacceo) warned yesterday that a number of potential voters would miss the chance.
Failure by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to update the Permanent Voter Register (PVR) would see some voters miss the opportunity to cast their ballots, Tacceo chairwoman Martina Kabisama said yesterday.In Igunga, three major parties tipped to win the election namely the Civic United Front, Chama Cha Mapinduzi and Chadema continued to trade blame, with each accusing its rival of mischief.
Ms Kabisama told a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that their observers in Igunga had established that some people who are qualified to vote would be locked out of the process because of a lack of voters' identification cards.
"It is alarming that many wananchi will be denied the right to choose their representative due to failure by NEC to update the PVR… for example, there are those who were not registered in 2009 because they were below the voting age, others who have since moved to Igunga as well as those who have lost their voting cards," she said.
Ms Kabisama said when Tacceo surveyors inquired from one of the officials at the office of the Igunga returning officer - only identified as Ms Martha - she told them that NEC had no money and facilities to update the PVR.
Efforts to seek clarification from NEC hit a snag after director of elections Rajabu Kiravu declined to comment on the matter arguing that he was not in the office.
According to Tacceo coordinator Merick Luvinga, the Constitution requires NEC to update the voters' register "when there is a need to do so." Ms Kabisama also urged the authorities to intervene on the tendency by some of the politicians in Igunga to buy voters registration cards, warning that it was against the law.She also condemned incidents of violation of human rights which have been marring campaign rallies in the constituency.
CUF accusations
Meanwhile, CUF yesterday accused CCM of planning to use sugar to bribe voters in Igunga.
Speaking to journalists during a press conference in Igunga yesterday, CUF deputy secretary general Julius Mtatiro said the party had discovered seven lorries laden with sugar which was intended for distribution in the area.
According to Mr Mtatiro, the source of the sugar was Tarime where the police impounded it recently.
"We are currently monitoring the movement of the lorries and intend to arrest them ourselves because if we let the police get involved they would help the culprits escape," he said.
Mr Mtatiro also criticised plans by CCM to distribute food between September 30 and October 1 to all villages in Igunga.
He said his party understood that there was a food distribution exercise going on due to the hunger that has rocked the constituency, but the distribution was done from one village to another and not simultaneously in the whole of Igunga.
CCM Vs Chadema
He also said CCM had trained a group of youths that currently camped in Shinyanga with the aim of terrorising voters. Mr Mtatiro told journalists that the group would enter Igunga today in the evening with the aim of going around scaring people in villages to vote for the ruling party.However, CCM's head of Igunga by-election campaigns Mwigulu Mwinchemba denied all the allegations when reached for comment.
"We have no such plans and in so far as the food distribution is concerned, this exercise has been going on even before the by-election campaigns started," he said.He instead accused rival Chadema of planning to announce election results to declare victory for their candidate before NEC did so.
But Chadema hit back by accusing the ruling party of planning to ferry a group of voters from a number of regions including Dar es Salaam, in an "ill mission" to boost their chances of winning.CCM Central Committee member Steven Wassira told reporters that Chadema's ploy was aimed at showing that they have been denied victory.
Mr wassira, who also doubles as the minister of State in the President's Office responsible for Civil Society Relations and Coordination, said they had already informed the security organs on the issue.
"We want the state bodies to educate wananchi in Igunga on the electoral process to prevent them from being taken for a ride," he said, adding that CCM would also use their campaign rallies to educate the people.
Reported by Daria Erasto and Frank Kimboy (Dar es Salaam) and Ray Naluyaga and Daniel Mjema (Igunga)
Igunga: Many voters
MY TAKE
Hapa ndipo CCM watakapotupiga bado! mamaye zao hawa wanaharamu ati NEC haina hela za kutosha ku-update daftari la wapiga kura na kutoa vitambulisho kwa wapiga kura wapya! fnyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..........manina zao!