NATIONAL Electoral Commission (NEC) yesterday started dispatching polling materials to various municipalities in the country, insisting that all materials which are to be used in over 40,000 polling centres would reach all councils by October 15.
Various materials, most of them procured in the country, have already been assembled at the commission’s stores in Dar es Salaam as the electoral body prepares to transport them upcountry.
Addressing a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday, NEC Director of Procurement and Logistics, Mr Eliud Njaila, said all the required materials with exception of balloting papers were purchased within the country.
“All the materials required in the process were purchased in the country, except for ballot papers that were procured in South Africa,” he said, adding that some 41.6bn/- has been spent to purchase all the materials.
He mentioned some of the materials that have been assembled at NEC stores include polling booth, balloting papers, spiral notebooks, seal tapes, tactile ballot folders, posters and T-shirts (uniforms).
“The ballot papers will be received and supplied from September 29. We have purchased all the required and special materials that will see all the people casting votes easily especially the disabled,” he said and mentioned the polling booths as one of the materials that will enable all people to vote easily.
According to the commission, the materials would be first transported to the regions in the Lake Zone, Southern and Northern zones. “We have already started supplying the materials in the Lake Zone regions and we will end with the Southern Zone.
The exercise will end on October 15,” he said, noting that ballot papers to be supplied this month will also be supplied first in the Lake Zone regions.
On the other hand, Mr Njaila said that election facilitators will be trained on how to handle the special materials once they arrive at the required venues.
He said that the commission was well prepared to ensure the election process is well conducted by seeing that each and every one votes smoothly.
Meanwhile, the government has pledged to fully support NEC financially to ensure elections are conducted smoothly.
“We are going to fully and timely release funds for NEC in order to make it oversee the electoral process effectively,” said the Permanent Secretary (PS) in Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Florence Turuka.
He made the promise yesterday when he paid a visit at the commission’s stores to check preparations by NEC for the October 25 general election.
Dr Turuka said that they have managed to tackle all the financial challenges that had been dogging NEC and that the government intends to provide all the money required to make the election a success.
The money, according to Dr Turuka, will be provided in different phases according to the needs and programmes of the commission.
The money will help to facilitate the purchase and supply of all the required materials and training of returning officers and other officials.
Culled from Daily News
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