"That the Ministry of Justice disclose by commune, municipality and province the number of older citizens with and without ID card and that the MAT (Ministry of Territory Administration), in honor of transparency, disclose the names of companies contracted to provide services in the scope of the Official and on-site Electoral Register and the respective budget", defended this Tuesday the secretary for Electoral Affairs of UNITA, Faustino Mumbica.
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the largest opposition party, defends a change in the company that provides services in the context of unofficial registration because SINFIC, in the last elections, provided "a terrible service, which contributed to more five million voters did not exercise their right to vote".
The unofficial electoral registration in Angola began on the 23rd of September this year and runs until March 2022, a process that aims to ensure that all older citizens update their electoral register with a view to the general elections scheduled for 2022.
The process takes place at the so-called Single Public Attendance Counter (BUAP), under the eyes of political party inspectors, and for registration to be effected, citizens must have their ID card in order to obtain a citizen's card.
UNITA this Tuesday presented a "set of concerns" around the unofficial voter registration, regretting that the authorities have only accredited 40 of the 168 party agents that are expected to cover the BUAP in a first phase.
According to UNITA's secretary for Electoral Affairs, despite the fact that his party handed over the lists before September 10, most of its agents were not accredited.
"Which means that the MAT did not meet the accreditation deadline, as the unofficial electoral registration law sets five days before the start of registration for the competent entity to accredit the inspectors", said the official this Tuesday, at a conference of press in Luanda.
For UNITA, the recent statements by MAT minister, Marcy Lopes, to Public Television of Angola (TPA), demonstrated that the executive "is not committed to transparency and electoral truth".
"When that entity claims that it did not have information on the exact number of older citizens who have the ID, knowing that the unofficial electoral registration is being carried out based on this document", noted the UNITA leader.
Alluding to the words of the Minister of Territory Administration, Faustino Mumbica considered that it was not correct to convey the idea that the registration had been transparent, as there were no objections, because on several occasions his party presented complaints publicly.
As a result of "non-compliance with these complaints", he stressed, "in 2017, once again, about 2.3 million registered citizens did not vote".
Angola has around 30 million inhabitants, 60 percent of whom are over 18 years of age and, according to UNITA estimates, a large number of angolans in this universe do not have ID cards.
The difficulty in obtaining ID, said Mumbica, "is real and is due, on the one hand, to the inefficiency of services, aggravated by the weak supply in relation to demand. This fact has discouraged many citizens from acquiring ID."
"UNITA defends that Angolan institutions have the republican duty and obligation to correct the errors of previous electoral processes and make commitments that can guarantee that the 2022 process is exemplary, credible, transparent and fair," he pointed out.
The need for the disclosure by commune and municipality of the voter registration data that served as the basis for the 2017 general elections and to extend the in-person registration to areas where demand exceeds the offer of the BI issuance service were also proposed by UNITA.
For the ongoing process, the politician said, the MAT "must clarify and guide the BUAP to respect the law and refrain from demanding documents not provided for by law from the citizen, such as bills for water and electricity consumption and statements by the residents' committees".
UNITA also reaffirmed its "availability and its commitment to work with everyone so that the 2022 elections are held to the standards of transparency and fairness, as stipulated in the laws and regulations in force in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)".
