Major challenges have to be tackled ahead of the October 18, 2015 presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic.

All attention is focused now on the miracles the transitional authorities in the Central African Republic headed by Transition President Catherine Samba-Panza and the country’s partners will do to ensure the successful organization and conduct of the announced presidential and legislative elections whose first round is slated to October 18, 2015 and the second round for November 22, 2015. Political actors, pundits and keen observers of the country’s political scene are looking forward to solutions for the teething pre-electoral problems.

Registration and Voters’ Lists

The first challenge in the electoral calendar is having successful registration process and drawing up of the electoral lists. Information from the elections organizing body, National Elections Authority (ANE) indicates that the registration process and the drawing up of the electoral lists had to start last Saturday, June 27, 2015 to end on July 27, 2015.

The elections body chaired by Dieudonné Kombo-Yaya has to grapple with biometric registration, handle the case of displaced people and the over 400,000 refugees found in neighbouring countries who also have to participate in the electoral process. The respect of the electoral calendar raises keen interest as just days before the polls, a constitutional referendum will hold on October 4, 2015.

Financial Difficulties

The successful organization of the general elections largely depends on the availability of funds which at the time of publishing the electoral calendar on June 18, 2015 was still a teething problem. Speaking after the announcement of the date for the elections, Adrien Poussou, Adviser to the Prime Minister and member of the Strategic Follow up Committee for Elections disclosed that the budget for the elections was far from being met, stating that 18 million US Dollars was still needed. This was equivalent to 49 per cent budgetary gap.

The country’s financial partners such as the European Union Delegation and the United Nations Development Programme that have already made huge contributions, need to step up financing.

Security Situation

Adrien Poussou in a declaration cited by RFI said the capacity of the elections body, National Elections Authority has to be strengthened in terms of staff and financial resources. He more importantly stressed on the urgent need to improve on the security situation in the country.

Indeed, State authority and administration are progressively redeployed throughout the country considering that in the heart of the sectarian fighting between the ex-Seleka and Anti-Balaka armed groups, much of the country became under rebel control with public servants escaping for safety.

Prior to the Bangui reconciliation forum, the armed rebel groups agreed to depose their arms and government also launched an operation to recover arms in the possession of senior military officials and their close aides. All these measures have not yet stopped the circulation and use of arms by hoodlums and rebels who have kept on terrorizing the citizens.