Burundi gets SA poll packs

2004-12-14 01:10

Johannesburg - South Africa is to send thousands of ballot booths, ballot boxes and other electoral aids to Burundi, ahead of a series of key polls in the small central African country, foreign affairs said Monday.

"The South African government and its Independent Electoral Commission, in support of Burundi's political transition and attempts to create conditions ... (for) free and fair elections, will tomorrow (on Tuesday) dispatch electoral materials to Burundi," the department said in a statement.

Strife-torn Burundi, with a population of more than six million people, is gearing up for a series of seven historic polls, due to start on December 22 and run until April next year.

At the end, Burundians will elect political representatives after having endorsed or thrown out a new constitution.

The constitution is a key element of the country's efforts to put an end to more than a decade of ethnic civil war and to replace a three-year-old transitional administration with a permanent legal framework.

South Africa said goods to Bujumbura included: 14 000 ballot booths; 7 000 ballot boxes; 7 000 batches of indelible ink; 3 500 stationary packs; 3 500 stamps, stamp pads and ink; 28 000 security seals and 4 000 clear security bags.

The assistance came after a request by Paul Ngarambe, chair of Burundi's independent electoral commission.

"Some of the aid will be used for the referendum ... that will see Burundians, for the first time, voting to adopt the current transition constitution after which preparations can be made for historic democratic elections to be held in 2005," the statement said.

- AFP