The National Electoral Commission (NEC) handed over 12bn/- to President John Magufuli, which was saved after last year’s general election.
NEC Chairman, Judge (retired) Damian Lubuva handed the cheque to the President at the State House in Dar es Salaam, saying the saving did not in any way affect the polls’ conduct.
“Although we had a short time to prepare, we managed to save such an amount, which did not affect the electoral process at all,” said Judge Lubuva.
Speaking shortly after receiving the dummy cheque for the said amount, President Magufuli commended the NEC for saving such amount and handing it over to the government to cater for other activities of national importance.
“This reflects how NEC is very honest. A sum of 270bn/- was allocated for last October’s polls. They spent 261.6bn/-.
You would have even said that no amount has remained and no one would have discovered or doubted it,” he noted, commending the electoral body ‘’for their sincerity and austerity spirit’’.
He called on other public institutions to learn from the NEC and put the nation’s interests first. The president, has however, directed that the money be used for building NEC offices in the country’s designated capital, Dodoma.
Dr Magufuli’s directive came following Judge Lubuva’s concern that the elections management body was spending over 1bn/- to pay rent, transportation and other expenses.
He also accepted the proposal by the commission of establishing a special fund that will be accumulating money every year for general election purposes.
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