NEC team undergoes electoral training

20 employees of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) yesterday completed a ten-day seminar on various issues concerning elections. The training that was conducted by Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) and funded by United Nations Development Program (UNDP), focused on polling, counting and results, electoral systems and civic education. The Human Resource Manager of NEC, Justus Iyamuremye, who spoke on behalf of the trainees, said the workshop has enabled them acquire more knowledge and skills that will improve the commission’s performance. “I thank UNDP and BRIDGE for organising this useful seminar because I’m optimistic that the skills gained from here will enable us to take our institution to another level in as far as preparation and conducting (of elections) is concerned,” he said. The commission’s Executive Secretary, Charles Munyaneza said: “I am pleased that our staff have been be trained in various electoral techniques because it will enable us to improve the democratisation process in the country”. He added that the workshop would help the institution become more reliable and credible on electoral issues. “We are looking forward, in the next few years to come, to having people in the electoral commission who can not only perform their duties professionally, but can also expose their own knowledge to our sister countries in the region and beyond through trainings such as this,” Munyaneza stated. Rindai Chipfunde, one of the trainers from BRIDGE, urged the trainees to put into practice what they had learnt, saying it would help NEC become more proactive. steven.mugisha@newtimes.co.rw