Due to a lack of funds, the local elections scheduled for September 11 will not take place on this date, the president of the National Electoral Commission (ANE) announced. The funds allocated by the state and those promised by the donors to organize the vote have not yet been paid out.
as reported from Bangui, Carol Valade
After more than 33 years of waiting, Central Africans still have to wait before electing their mayors.
The most recent local elections in the country date back to 1988. Since then, the municipalities have been governed by heads of special delegations appointed by presidential decree.
In January last year, ANE had announced that the local elections would be held on September 11, so in the end that will not be the case.
There will be no vote in September, as the money has not yet reached the national election authority, explains its chairman Mathias Barthelemy Morouba.
The Finance Act gave us the necessary budget for the organization of local elections, we have a payment order that has already been signed, now it is a matter of disbursement of funds, which means that we have a small delay
The state finances 2.5 billion of a total budget of 9 billion CFA francs, or about 13.5 million euros. For the remaining 6.5 billion, the government is appealing for international aid.
In the timetable, everything remains to be done, ANE indicates: “The renewal of the sections of the election authorization, it must be put in place, then we must resume the election survey and then we have the revision of the election Register.”
“These operations will take about six months, but the elections will be held well this year,” he concludes. For most observers, 2023 seems more realistic. Especially since these choices pose a real security challenge.
