The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has announced it will take action against 11 political parties, including the Prosperity Party, for failing to provide accurate information regarding membership.
The Board requires a full list of members to determine the distribution of budgetary support to legally registered political parties, in line with the ‘Electoral, Political Parties’ Registration, and Electoral Ethics’ Proclamation. Budget allocation is based on the size of a party’s membership pool and other factors, such as the inclusion of women and persons with disabilities.
An NEBE statement released this week reveals that 11 of the country’s 21 registered parties have failed to verify membership lists with highly exaggerated figures regarding women and persons with disabilities, with some parties claiming up to 900,000 such members.
The figures are significantly higher than those reported over the last three years, according to the Board.
The inconsistencies led the Board to call for a resubmission of full and accurate information for memberships held by women and persons with disabilities in March this year. Only 10 registered parties complied with the order.
Among the parties that failed to submit updated information are the Prosperity Party, Ethiopian Democratic Union, Ethiopian Social Democratic Party, Amhara National Movement, Ogaden National Liberation Front, Raya Rayuma Democratic Party, Wolayita National Movement, Gambella National Democratic Movement, Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty, Mocha Democratic Party, and the Ethiopian National Unity Party.
Andom Gebreselassie, public relations head for Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty, told The Reporter the inaccuracies were due to difficulties in obtaining the names and photos of members affected by displacement in the Tigray region.
“The members must be clearly visible with a photo and name list. It is not possible to reach all the members. Because of this problem, it was not possible to obtain accurate names and photos,” said Andom. “We’re working to organize displaced people in the region.”
Simon Tutu of the Gambella National Democratic Movement told The Reporter that a clerical error had made its way into the party’s initial membership report.
“We registered 7,292 women in our party, but one zero was added to the figure due to a typing error, so the final report read 72,920. The Election Board has accepted the correction,” he said.
Simon also indicated that security issues near and around the patry’s head office in the Gambella region have been an obstacle.
The Election Board has threatened to take administrative action based on provisions set out in the Election proclamation if the parties fail to submit accurate membership information within a week.
