Burundi admits ‘irregularities’ in voter registration

Multiple irregularities have marred voter registration ahead of Burundi’s elections, the interior minister said Monday, adding that some were the government’s fault. Burundi, a small nation in Africa’s Great Lakes region, emerged in 2006 from a brutal 13-year civil war, but its political climate remains fractious in the runup to presidential polls next year. “Regarding the irregularities… I would say there are quite a few,” Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana said, responding to complaints by opposition parties. A key concern has been the alleged mass distribution of identification cards to supporters of the ruling party. Leonce Ngendakumana, leader of Burundi’s opposition coalition of 12 parties, the Democratic Alliance for Change (ADC-Ikibiri), has warned of “many irregularities that are likely to completely distort the electoral roll.” Ngendakumana claimed the “cheating” had included a “mass distribution of identity cards to members of the ruling party” while at the same time officials are “systematically refusing them to opposition supporters.” Under electoral law, voters must present an identification card to register, but the election commission has also accepted other documents including birth certificates and driving licenses. Nduwimana said that “most of the irregularities are due to the haste with which the identity cards are issued, as many of our citizens do not have one.” President Pierre Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, is expected to run for a third term in office despite opponents’ claims that that would violate Burundi’s constitution. Most opposition parties boycotted Burundi’s last elections in 2010, and Nkurunziza’s opponents are again accusing the ruling CNDD-FDD party of eliminating any dissent ahead of the next polls. Burundi issued some 1.5 million identity cards — around a third of eligible voters — to citizens who had had no cards just before the 2010 elections. Registration opened on November 24 and ends on December 7.