13 Jun 2022

Very few people have shown enthusiasm to register in the ongoing supplementary voter registration, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Chief Public Relations Officer, Mr Osupile Maroba said in an interview Friday.

In fact, this was the worst show of public disinterest ever. 

For a nationwide exercise that started on May 3, only 45 people out of an expected 348 000 plus, had registered by close of business on June 7 – some 36 days later.

Some constituencies had even recorded zero registrations.

It was regrettable, said Mr Maroba, as the registration was meant to afford a voting chance - should there be an election - to people who had not registered or had registered, but did not have a valid entry in the roll for the 2019 general elections. 

“Passive citizenry is not consistent with participatory democracy,” he said, and urged voters to register to be ready to influence developments through their vote.

Mr Maroba said prior to the 2019 general elections, the IEC had set itself a target of 1,273,800 registered voters, but only 925,478 registered out of an estimated eligible population of 1,592,350, presenting a shortfall of 348, 322 by close of registration in March 2019. 

These were, “citizens who had not registered, who should be registering during this period,” he said. BOPA