VOTERS REGISTRATION CENTRES OVERWHELMED SOME RESIDENT PAY CASH TO YOUTHS TO QUEUNE FOR THEM

A crowd waiting to be registered for the forthcoming General Elections at Ukombozi Primary School in Sinon

The demand for the new voters’ cards in Arusha is overwhelming. Hundreds of people have now resorted to spending nights at the registration center in order to beat the jam associated with queuing for hours.

 The process is also proving to be a lucrative  business for some young people who spend nights   at the Biometric Voters Registration (BVR) centres  earning the front positions at the queues only to sell those slots   at between 10,000/- and 15,000/- for those in a hurry to register.

 The Arusha City Director Alhaj Juma Idd who is also the Returning Officer said they have just ordered 50 new BVR machines that will be delivered in the Urban Electoral Constituency in the course of this week after the existing 70 proved to be overwhelmed.

The Regional Commissioner Mr Daudi Ntibenda visited the five wards in which the exercise started last week and ordered politicians who have been causing chaos at the centers be arrested promptly.
 Once the additional  BVR kits land here, they will boost the number from the current 70 to 130 and therefore ease the congestion and mayhem that have marred the exercise  since it started on the 15th of June this year.
 But the Director once more warned political parties, especially the opposition against their tendency to cause chaos at stations, saying should the mayhem continue, he has the authority to suspend the BVR registration exercise in the City indefinitely.

Estimates from the Regional Office for the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the Arusha-Urban (City) constituency will have about 265,087 voters by October 2015, which means it is crucial for the BVR enrolment to increase pace if all this figure is to be covered by the time the exercise ends on the 19th of July this year. The Sokon I ward will have the most voters currently estimated at 44,000 followed by Sombetini with 30,400 and Elerai with 26,500.
 There are a 19 wards in Arusha whose estimated voting number ranges between 20,000 and 40,000 with the City Center set to have the fewest voters estimated to be 2320.

However, early investigations indicate that many people scramble to be registered not because of the forthcoming elections but rather as means to acquire the new cards that most people use as their Identity Cards (ID)s.