Maputo — Observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have arrived in Mozambique to accompany the general and provincial elections that will be held on 28 October.

The 20 observers, from Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania and Swaziland, have been briefed by the chairperson of the National Elections Commission (CNE), Joao Leopold da Costa, and on Friday met with officials from the CNE's executive arm, the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE).

During this meeting the observers, asked about the voting materials and how they will be distributed to the 12,694 polling stations, the voting procedures themselves, and the software that will be used during the count.

The STAE director of election organisation, Mario Ernesto, assured the SADC team that, in remote areas, the voting materials will arrive at the polling stations two or three days before polling day, while in the cities the materials will be distributed in the small hours of the morning of 28 October.

The SADC observers are now receiving their accreditation, and will then travel to the provinces. So far 107 foreign observers have been accredited (from the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP), and 872 domestic observers.

The number of journalists accredited to cover the elections now stands at 607.