PRESS CONFERENCE LAUNCHING THE ELECTORAL CALENDAR FOR THE 2011 – 2013 ELECTORAL CYCLE .
 
SPEECH BY ALHAJI MUSTAPHA L. CARAYOL, CHAIRMAN OF THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION (IEC), AT A PRESS CONFERENCE LAUNCHING THE ELECTORAL CALENDAR FOR THE 2011 – 2013 ELECTORAL CYCLE AT THE IEC HEADQUARTERS ALONG BERTIL HARDING HIGHWAY ON WEDNESDAY 30TH MARCH 2011 AT 11.00 AM.
 
 
 
 
•       DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION
•       REPRESENTATIVES OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS
•       REPRESENTATIVES OF POLITICAL PARTIES
•       MEMBERS OF STAFF OF THE IEC
•       LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS
 
 
Once again I welcome you to the IEC.
 
As you are probably all aware, the Commission has in exercise of its mandate under section 16 of the Elections Decree, as amended, and section 43, subsection 1(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia, published in the National Gazette of 22nd March 2011 the conduct of a General Registration of Voters.
 
The Commission has also published in the National Gazette the dates for the conduct of the Registration of Voters, and the official period of the exercise as determined by the commission in accordance with the law (Section 14 of the Elections Decree).
 
In essence, the IEC would be commencing the electoral activities for the 2011 – 2013 Electoral Calendar, with a General Registration of Voters.       
 
The electoral activities also include the conduct of the Presidential, National Assembly and Local Government Elections. All of these major activities will be backed by a continuous voter education program.
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
A new digital voter registration system will be introduced, to be supported by CODE Inc, an internationally recognized Canadian company, with the required capacity to implement The Gambia’s voter registration exercise.
 
 It may interest you to note that after the last cycle of elections (2006-2008), three conclaves were convened by the Independent Electoral Commission across the country. One of the most prominent resolutions that the stakeholders in the electoral process made was the need to change the mode of registration.
 
The IEC in a bid to be in consonance with the wishes of the people, made frantic searches for the availability of the Polaroid Cameras and the Fuji Films. It was found out that these materials are obsolete in the world market. There and then the idea of conducting a computerized mode – Biometric System of registration was conceived.
 
Six foreign companies and two local companies submitted bids to the IEC. These companies were later invited to do presentations to the stakeholders after which two foreign companies, viz: Code Incorporated and Zetes Pass were shortlisted. These two companies were invited by the IEC to conduct a mock biometric registration of voters in schools within the Greater Banjul Area. These schools are St. Augustine’s Senior Secondary, Latri Kunda Upper Basic, Muslim Senior Secondary and Charles Jow Memorial Upper and Senior Secondary Schools. This mock exercise was conducted on the 14th and 15th January 2010.
 
Prior to the mock exercise, a day’s training was organized for the staff of the IEC by the two companies. This was to enable the staff to familiarize themselves with the gadgets and their functionality. A team was attached to each of the companies.
 
The mock exercise was carried out without incident. The speed with which the registration was conducted was satisfactory. The machines were also adaptable to the weather conditions of the country. The issue that subsequently surfaced after the mock registration of voters is that of sustainability. After thorough reflection, the Commission has now come to the conclusion that it will conduct a computerized registration of voters without the use of biometric solutions.
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
The digital system is adopted mainly due to the fact that the previously used Polaroid Cameras and films are no longer available in the market. Secondly, it is more economical to adopt the digital system as it is more cost effective and sustainable. This system has in place adequate security features integrated in both the voter card and the data capture processes to ensure an accurate list of voters.
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The 2011 General Registration of Voters will be conducted over a period of 42 days. It will last from 2nd May 2011 to 12th June 2011, all Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays inclusive. This means that all the voters cards issued during the General Registration of Voters in 2001 and the subsequent Supplementary Registration of Voters of 2004 and 2006 will be invalid as of 1st May 2011.
 
 
During this period a total of 200 Registration Teams will be deployed across the country. It is the objective of the Commission to bring registration teams to the door step of all voters. Some changes will be effected in the number of registration centers whilst new centers will be opened to accommodate growing settlements and to provide better access to electoral services to voters.
 
The list of registration centers and team movements will be announced over the media, notably in the radio and newspapers.
 
I would like to implore all eligible Gambians to come and register en mass during this period. It is important to know when a registration team will be at your area to enable you to register on time and closer to where you live. This will effectively be very helpful to both the voter and the Commission cognizant of voting time and distance to polling centers during future elections.
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
In light of the aforementioned I wish to inform all Political Parties that the IEC will invite at least one agent from each party to be with each registration team throughout the registration period, at each party’s expense. All Political Parties are to send in the names of their registration agents to the IEC before the commencement of the registration exercise for proper identification.
 
The role of the party registration agents is to observe and note down any observation for submission to their party. They must not interfere, disrupt or obstruct the registration process. They must not also influence, induce, entice any applicant for registration or coerce, threaten, intimidate and/or bar applicants from registering. The IEC has the prerogative to accept any agent or send away any agent from a registration center.
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
The registration exercise will be followed by other important activities including the Display Period and the Revising Courts. Gambians are again urged to participate in all these activities as they are part and parcel of the registration exercise.
 
It is important to note that all these activities will be convened under a very tight time frame and so the Commission implores on all Gambians to come out and register within the designated period.
 
The Commission is once again assured of success by the continuing support and cooperation of the Gambian public. It will be much appreciated if Gambians will come to register on time at their nearest registration center.
 
The Commission urges all and sundry to desist from attesting for the under aged and aliens as this is a crime in the laws of The Gambia. “The Gambian voter ID is exclusively for eligible Gambians”.
 
Upon successful completion of the voter registration exercise, the Presidential elections will be held on 24th November 2011 to be followed by the National Assembly Elections in the first quarter of 2012 and the Local Government Elections a year later, in the first quarter of 2013.
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Voter Education forms an intrinsic part of the electoral process. It is part of the Mission of the Commission to embark on massive voter education campaign. In so doing, the partnership and collaboration of NCCE, CSOs, Media Houses, et al, will continue to be sought, to ensure mass participation and understanding of the electoral process.
 
In this vein, a Voter Education Guideline has already been developed by the Commission to help foster better collaboration in harnessing the efforts and objectives of the different role players. This document has already been validated and will consequently be operational in this massive sensitization campaign and the subsequent ones.
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
At this juncture, I would like to thank the Government of the Republic of The Gambia for exclusively financing the entire Registration of Voters Exercise which costs Sixty Five Million, Two Hundred and Ninety Seven Thousand Five Hundred and Six Dalasis and Ten Bututs (D65, 297,506.1).
 
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
The IEC received notification from the Clerk of the National Assembly on the vacancy for the seat of Member for Wuli East Constituency due to the demise of the erstwhile Member of the National Assembly for the said constituency, Mr. Bekai Camara.
 
The Commission has stipulated Thursday 28th April 2011 as the date for the election to the position of National Assembly Member for Wuli East Constituency. Nomination will be on 18th April 2011 and the campaign will start from 20th April 2011 and end on 26th April 2011. The Commission has already published in the National Gazette the date for the said election since Friday 18th March 2011.
 
In conclusion, I would like to call on all Gambians to help nurture the Gambia’s democratic culture for the benefit of peace, development and national cohesion. The participation and contribution of all is encouraged as election is the business of all.
 
The Commission also continues to seek the support and cooperation of all prospective registrants, local authorities, development partners and the public at large for the conduct of a very successful voter registration and free and fair elections.
 
I thank you for your attention.
 






¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤