MOZAMBIQUE has begun accrediting journalists and foreign observers ahead of the October 28th combined multi-party general polls, writes Charles Mangwiro for journalism.co.za.
The Electoral Administration Technical Secretariate, STAE, said 144 Mozambican journalists, two foreign and 98 national observers had been accrediated so far to cover the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections.
Head of the STAE press office, Lucas Jose, said the accreditation process is taking place in two stages, first at provincial and then at the central level.
Jose said his institution has received many applications from the world´s largest organisations such as the European Union (EU) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
"Of these, the national Election Commssion, CNE, has responded positively to only two of the EU observers, as others have yet to deal with technical issues before the request is authorized," he said.
He said foreign journalists have not yet submitted any applications to the electoral bodies.
"However, national media is coming up in large numbers, for example, today is the second day and we have accredited 144 journalists to cover the final part of the electoral process, 85 of which are based in Maputo and 59 in the central Sofala province," said Jose.
