By Elizabeth Côté

This new biometric system was chosen following years of negotiations between political parties and the Government of Guinea, as well as the repetitive postponement of the June 2007 legislative elections.  Despite the obstacles, a two-phased project to support the electoral process in Guinea was finally formalized in July 2007. The first phase consisted of the organization of the voter registration process. The second phase consisted of assisting all aspects of the electoral process.

The Voter Registration process is funded chiefly by the European Union (EU) and managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through a trust fund. 11 companies competed to be the providers of the biometric registration kits. Of these, three finalists (ZETEC, SMARTMACT and SAGEM) were selected to participate in a pilot test. SAGEM emerged as the winner of the contract to provide the necessary equipment, training and technical assistance to the first ever biometric voter registration in Guinea. 

After months of delays and arduous negotiations between the EU, UNDP, the GoG and SAGEM, 1000 kits were delivered, 1,800 operators trained and deployed, over 900 administrative commissions set up to receive an estimated 5 million potential electors. Voter registration, officially launched on August 28 2008, is now scheduled to end April 16.

The voter registry process faced many obstacles. Slow downs and delays have been costly. Initially planned to last 1 month, we are now entering the 5th month of registration on the ground. The cost in salaries alone is valued at approximately 350,000$ a week, a situation that has affected the timely payment of salaries. This caused many kit operators and local staff to abandon their posts and affected the distribution of materials and the ability to coordinate and supervise operations adequately on the ground. In many instances materials such as ink, gas coupons, CDs and paper were diverted and sold on the market. By the end of October, the registration process had come to a halt in most localities due to lack of material and/or human resources.

The government was ready to remedy some of these problems by releasing promised funds when President Lansana Conté died on December 22. The military coup that followed a few hours later did not help to speed the process, even though the junta and new self-proclaimed President asked that the registration process continue as planned.  

Government funds to this day are still blocked and over 3,000 local election officials and 10,000 members of the administrative commissions have yet to be paid for their extra time.  An assessment carried out in February indicated that almost 50% of eligible voters had registered making it clear that much more work remains to be done.  A rescue mission of over 100 people  (CENI, Ministry, IFES, UNDP, civil society and political parties), sponsored by USAID and the French Embassy is currently being deployed throughout the country to boost the process on these last days of registration and help Guinea meet its objective. This includes delivering funds and materials to on site operators and an extensive media campaign to inform Guineans of the proceedings.

There is a great deal of speculation as to how long the military transition will last and exactly when the next election will take place.  Political parties and civil society have agreed on a timeline for the transition that was accepted by the President Dadis Camara. However growing support for the new president’s actions against corruption, drug trafficking and overall bad governance could push elections back to 2010. Hopefully, this new registration process will help build trust and confidence amongst stakeholders and contribute to peaceful and credible elections.

Elizabeth Coté is Chief of Party in Guinea for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. She has been based in Conakry, Guinea since 2001.