OIF questions accuracy of Guinea’s electoral rolls

L’ Organisation Internationale de La Francophonie (OIF) on Monday warned Guinea’s electoral authorities over the accuracy and credibility of the electoral rolls as the country is preparing for  polls.

The OIF, the francophone organization equivalent of the Commonwealth, said the registers included nearly 2.49 million “problematic” names, including duplicated names, people who were too young to vote or individuals who had died.

Of these 2.49 million, 98 percent “do not have documents to enable their identification,” the OIF said in a statement.

The Paris-based organization urged the government to avoid further deaths and “prevent any risk of escalation.”

Guinea’s President Alpha Condé is set to hold a constitutional referendum next month, despite protests led by an opposition alliance.

The referendum, in a country with a long tradition of political turmoil, covers changes to the constitution, which the opposition say is a bid by Conde, 81, to restart his time in office and stay in power beyond two terms.

Jailed under previous hardline regimes, Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010 and was returned to office by voters in 2015 for his second and final five-year term under the current constitution.

Human rights groups have criticized the Conde administration for banning a number of public demonstrations. Opposition leaders this year have also been sentenced to jail time on charges of insurrection and disturbing the public peace.