ECOWAS mission discovers schemes in Guinean voters’ register
Conakry, Guinea (PANA) – The three computer experts deployed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to check the Guinean voters’ register on Wednesday called on the government to remove 2,438,992 voters from the list.
In the report of the ECOWAS mission, sent to PANA, the evaluations made by the three computer experts discovered the scheme which has for several months become the bone of contention between political actors.
The ECOWAS computer engineers reassured in their evaluation report that those voters were registered without providing the document showing their identification.
Therefore, they recommended authorities in charge of elections the withdrawal of the 2,438,992 voters registered without supporting documents, saying that the registrations did not conform with the dispositions of Articles 13 and 19 of the electoral code.
According to the evaluation report of the voters' roll, Gen. Francis Awagbè Benhanzin, the ECOWAS mission chief and commissioner for political affairs, peace and security of the sub-regional organisation, who began his job last week, said that the final list released by the national independent electoral commission (CENI) includes 7,764,130 voters, a figure obtained after treatment of data gathered from the exceptional revision carried out in 2019.
Out of the 11,590,805 enrolled voters, the ECOWAS experts said that there were 3,538,515 duplications, 164,026 deaths, 58,885 minors and 65,249 who were removed for different other reasons.
The International Francophonie Organization (OIF), who had participated in the audit of the voters’ roll in 2018, had raised the alarm, saying it could not explain the presence of a large number of voters, and recommended its withdrawal from the electoral process.
After OIF, the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS called back their envoys who had been deployed to supervise the double parliamentary and constitutional referendum poll, initially due for 1 March.
At 72 hours before the election, president Condé had, in a televised address, announced ‘’a slight postponement’’ to enable the ECOWAS experts to check the electoral register which was challenged by several opposition parties who had then decided to boycott the parliamentary elections for the renewal of the seats of the 114 MPs at Parliament, whose five-year term expired since 2018.
President Condé had, in his speech, warned that only 33 political parties shortlisted by CENI will take part in the polls.
The representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa, Ghanaian Mohamed Ibn Chambass, on Tuesday returned to Conakry where he undertook mediation between the government and the opposition.
-0- PANA AC/IS/MSA/VAO 11March2020
