Times Of Swaziland: Malindza registration delayed by five hours

Malindza registration delayed by five hours
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 BY KHULEKANI NENE on 14/05/2013 02:50:00


SITEKI – Due to faulty machinery the registration process was delayed by
nearly five hours at Malindza and Dvokodvweni registration stations.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) announced last week that
registration was to start at exactly 7am. However, this was not the case at
these registration stations as the public was forced to wait until midday while
election officers attended to the faulty machines.
A source explained the problem: “The machines in both stations had problems
booting up, hence election officers had to wait while the supervisor tried to
find a solution to the problem. The problem was, however, solved at around
midday and the registration process continued.” Also, under the Lomahasha
constituency, three registration stations experienced similar problems but they
were sorted out quicker than at Malindza and Dvokodvweni.
Under the Matsanjeni North Constituency, the registration process went smoothly
except for one station under Lukhetseni Umphakatsi where the registration centre
had to be changed at the eleventh hour. It had earlier been announced that
registration was to take place at Lukhetseni Umphakatsi but, due to the absence
of electric power at the umphakatsi, the registration process was then conducted
at a nearby building which is used by World Vision. Despite delays in other
constituencies, registration started at the scheduled time under the Hlane and
Mhlume constituencies. Sources in those areas said there were no delays except
that a few people turned out for registration.
When sought for comment, EBC Chairman Chief Gija blamed the delays on the
election officers whom he said had forgotten passwords of the machines. “We
trained them for two days and there was a gap of a week before the registration
process began, hence some had forgotten passwords used to log into the machines.
We are working on this and I can assure the public that we will improve,”
Chief Gija said.