Chadema accuse NEC of plot to rig election

Dar es Salaam. The opposition Chadema has accused the National Electoral Commission (NEC) of a plot to use the prevailing irregularities to rig the election.

Party leaders have insisted that if the anomalies they had discovered in the permanent voter register are not addressed immediately, they might lead to unfair election. If the problems are not sorted out immediately, they said. They were planning to ask the electoral body to call of the next General Election slated for next Sunday.

Speaking at a news conference in Dar es Salaam, the party's Director of Elections Reginald Munisi said after the voter register was released to them last week, they discovered a number of serious shortcomings.

"We fear that the next polls will not be free, transparent and fair because of NEC's decision to allow voters with ID cards with different numbers from those recorded in the register to vote," he said.

Mr Munisi added that their verification also found out that NEC allowed voters whose photographs were not clear or do not appear on their cards to also cast their votes and that voters whose names do not appear in the register will also be allowed to vote provided that their names are on the list of voters at the polling station.

What casts more doubt, according to him, is the decision to bar people whose names appear in the register but have no ID cards from participating in the exercise. But, NEC has categorically stated that people with no voter cards would not be allowed to vote even if their names appear in the voter roll.

"This gives us a feeling that there are plans to include ghost voters in the exercise and this suggests plans to rig the election,” he said.

"This is a big problem and we have already written to NEC and election observers and if the electoral body will chose to keep quiet until tomorrow, we will ask NEC to postpone the polls until the anomalies are addressed,” he insisted.

Chadema will participate in the October 25 General Election under the coalition of four opposition parties including NLD, CUF, and NCCR Mageuzi.

The coalition's flag bearer is former Prime Minister Mr Edward Lowassa who is vying for presidency on the Chadema ticket.

At a press conference, the opposition further attacked NEC for its reluctance to allow Chadema IT experts to verify and audit the electoral body's software that will be used for tallying of election results.

"We have repeatedly asked NEC to allow us to go through the software but they are telling us that we are interfering with their duties. However, we understand that technology has been a problem since NEC started registering voters through Biometric Voter Registration system," he noted.