03 Aug 2014

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Shaw Kgathi says the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was well prepared for the upcoming general elections.


Speaking in Parliament, he said voter registration was complete and all three rolls were certified and awaiting amalgamation upon issuance of writ of elections by the President.
He said so far 824 073 voters have been registered which is 13.54 per cent over the 725 817 registered for the 2009 elections and 26 per cent below the target of 1.120 000 that was set.


He said 32 meetings were held with prospective candidates and returning officers to sensitize them to the requirement of the law. 
 Mr Kgathi said the recruitment of the poll staff has started and would be followed by their training.
He further said adequate resources have been availed to enable IEC to undertake their work effectively.

Mr Kgathi said public officers specified under the law to vote earlier will do so and that regarding speed process of results the IEC will expedite the counting as results pop in. 


He said the poll staff will also ensure that the roll is in alphabetical order to speed up the voting process.
He was responding to Shoshong MP, Mr Phillip Makgalemele who wanted to know the level of preparedness of the IEC with regard to resources spared to be used for elections.


He also wanted to know if the poll staff will be given the chance to vote as well as measures in place to ensure that counting process and releasing of results was not delayed. ENDS