VZCZCXYZ0005
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPC #0571/01 2151719
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 031719Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY LOME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8088
INFO RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 2171
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0934
RUEHCO/AMEMBASSY COTONOU PRIORITY 3965
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 0080
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU PRIORITY 8890
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0590
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0102

C O N F I D E N T I A L LOME 000571 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR D'ELIA AND KANEDA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL KDEM TO
SUBJECT: TOGO ELECTION UPDATE: SOFTWARE PROBLEMS JEOPARDIZE 
VOTER REGISTRATION; ELECTORAL PROCESS TAKES A POLITICAL TURN 
 
REF: LOME 0553 
 
Classified By: Ambassador David B. Dunn, Reasons 1.4 B and D. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary. The opening round of voter registration for 
Togo's upcoming legislative elections - the centerpiece of 
the ongoing reform and reconciliation process -- have 
revealed a number of problems related to the registration 
software.  Of particular concern to the National Independent 
Electoral Commission (CENI) and UN elections experts is the 
database that will generate a new national voter list. The UN 
experts (protect) attribute the problems to the Belgian 
company selected to develop the software for the 
registration. In a related development, CENI granted a 
three-day extension for voter registration in Lome and 
surrounding areas due to numerous problems that plagued voter 
registration in the heavily populated coastal region (ref). A 
march organized by opposition elements is scheduled for 
August 4 to protest shortcomings in the registration process. 
The demonstration could portend an end to the consensus among 
the major political parties that has guided the reform 
process. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On July 27, the heads of the five Lome-based missions 
(European Union, UNDP, France, Germany, U.S.) participating 
in the donor basket that supports the Togolese election 
process -- the PEACE project, toured CENI's newly-opened data 
processing center along with the president and vice president 
of CENI. Following the tour, the entire group met privately 
with Dunia Ramazani, the voter registration and IT expert on 
the PEACE technical team. Ramazani, a Canadian national of 
Congolese origin, is employed by UNDP. 
 
¶3. (C) Ramazani delivered a litany of complaints about the 
performance of Zetes, the Belgian IT software development 
company hired by the GOT for the registration process. The 
choice of Zetes was based in part on the company's successful 
perfomance in last year's presidential election in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo. Earlier problems with Zetes in 
the design of the voter ID software caused numerous delays in 
voter registration, which in turn caused the election itself 
to be postponed from June 24 to August 5 and now indefinitely 
pending satisfactory progress on the creation of a voter 
list. Ramazani alleged that Zetes is no longer the company 
that managed the successful registration process in the DRC 
elections. He said that a bitter internal dispute over the 
sharing of profits from the DRC contract has caused Zetes to 
split, with most of the technical experts leaving to form 
another company. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The evening of July 30, PEACE project donors met 
with senior CENI officials and representatives of Zetes in an 
attempt to clear the air. Though defensive, the Zetes reps 
agreed to follow up with CENI and the PEACE team to try and 
resolve the underlying problems. The entire group met again 
on August 2 at the CENI data processing center. 
 
¶5. (C) Based on the arguments of the two sides during the 
meeting and information gathered in earlier briefings, The 
problem boils down to a lack of confidence on the part of 
CENI (and its UN advisors) in Zetes' ability to deliver 
robust voter list software that will withstand the scrutiny 
of international observers and opposition members as regards 
anti-fraud safeguards. This lack of confidence is based on 
two factors - problems associated with the development of the 
voter ID software by Zetes earlier this year and the 
unwillingness and/or inability of Zetes to share the codes 
for the software being developed that would allow CENI to 
analyze for itself the quality of the safeguards. The voter 
ID software developed by Zetes was eventually perfected, but 
not until after a long, iterative process involving Zetes and 
CENI. Based on that experience, CENI is reluctant to 
recommend an election date to the government without a firm 
idea of whether and when a satisfactory voter list can be 
produced. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The meeting produced a pledge by Zetes to sit down 
with CENI and the PEACE technical team and share additional 
technical information. Although the meeting and pledge 
represented a step forward, it was unclear to the heads of 
mission present whether this would be sufficient to resolve 
the underlying problem and break the impasse. CENI is to 
 
report back to the donors on August 6. 
 
¶7. (U) The three day extension of voter registration in Lome 
and surrounding areas ended on August 1 and was extended to 
the morning of August 3 for anyone who had missed the 
opportunity. The extension, granted because logistical 
problems in Lome had prevented many voters from meeting the 
scheduled July 29 deadline (ref), has been controversial. 
Some supporters of the traditional opposition, mainly from 
the UFC, have argued that it should have been longer, while 
some in the RPT have argued that it should not have occurred 
at all. Registration in the rest of the country that took 
part in round one (Zone A) was uneventful and closed as 
scheduled on July 29. Registration in the second half of the 
country, Zone B, is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 6, 
and run for two weeks. 
 
¶8. (C) The UFC and several smaller associated parties have 
scheduled a march on August 4 that coincides with a visit to 
Togo by UFC president Gilchrist Olympio. A major theme of the 
march is the flawed CENI-organized registration process, 
which is labeled a "masquerade" in fliers advertising the 
event -- even though the UFC is a member of CENI. Partially 
in response, the prime minister's office issued a communique 
on August 3 noting that a tripartite meeting of the 
government, CENI (including a UFC representative), and the 
donors had expressed satisfaction with the conclusion of the 
registration in Zone A. Rumors are circulating in Lome on 
August 3 that the RPT may be planning a 
counter-demonstration, also on August 4, that would cross 
paths with the UFC march. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment. Although the registration process has been 
flawed, CENI and the GOT were able to take and publicize 
corrective actions sufficiently to earn a passing grade for 
the first round, during which more than half of the 
electorate were registered. Unresolved issues involving 
software for the voter list are more serious and will require 
a meeting of the minds between CENI and its Belgian supplier 
that has eluded the two parties up to now. More worrisome 
still is the politicization of the electoral process, in the 
form of the demonstration and possible counter-demonstration 
scheduled for this weekend. A violent outcome to the 
demonstration(s) would be a harsh blow to a reform process 
that has been able to weather a number of lesser storms thus 
far, as would further politicization of the process leading 
to repudiation and/or withdrawal by the UFC. End Comment. 
 
DUNN