Electoral materials including ballot boxes, voting booths and electoral kits, part of a batch of electoral equipment donated by the Republic of South Africa to support the democratic process in the Central African Republic (CAR), arrived in the country’s capital Bangui on 3-4 December 2020.

On hand to receive the items – 12,000 ballot boxes, 4,200 kits and 12,000 voting booths – on the tarmac of the Bangui M’poko International Airport was the President of the National Elections Authority (ANE) Marie-Madeleine N'Kouet-Hoornaert, in the presence of the Ambassador of South Africa to CAR His Excellency Boniswa Piet Ramalebana, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Denise Brown, and the UNDP Representative Natalie Boucly.

Significantly, with the presidential elections scheduled for 27 December less than a month away, voter cards for the prefectures of Bamingui-Bogoran and Vakaga that were procured by the CAR government were also delivered.

The Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the CAR and Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown described the arrival of the voter cards as a critical marker of the “positive evolution of the election preparation process”.  

“Today is an important day for the CAR electorate. Over 1.8 million people have registered to vote, 46.6 percent of them are women. Voter cards represent the power of the people – who will decide what they want to see happen in their country. Their voices should be respected,” she said. 

His Excellency Ambassador Boniswa Piet Ramalebana noted that the contribution from the South African government, in collaboration with MINUSCA and UNDP, was part of efforts to “silence the guns in the CAR through consolidation of the democratic process”.

ANE President Marie-Madeleine N'Kouet-Hoornaert expressed gratitude to CAR’s partners for their technical and financial electoral support. She signalled that the latest delivery of electoral materials constituted the final stages of assembling all the necessary electoral equipment. Crucially, voter cards for the rest of the country are expected to arrive by 8 December 2020.