10 Mar 2016

Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has been warned to intensify its screening processes during recruitment of temporary registration officers and leave no room for dishonest people to gain access into the system.

Party Liaison Committee (PLC) members made the warning during a consultative meeting in Kanye on Wednesday.

Mr Joseph Masala, a PLC member and Botswana Congress Party representative said based on past experiences during election year, many political agents purporting to be genuine registration officers infiltrated the system only to cause a stir later.

“It has become clear that the so-called registration officers are in fact agents of some politicians.  The same are bought lunches and even transported by some politicians,” he said.

These unethical agents, he said, ended up being used to traffic votes among other things; something he said could have a negative bearing on the fairness of elections if left unchecked.

Another PLC member and Botswana Democratic Party representative, Mr Solomon Mosime concurred with Mr Masala and called on IEC to heighten the security of the registration materials so that they might not find their way into the hands of people with ulterior motives.

However, principal elections officer for Kanye region, Ms Francinah Moelesi, said the commission had in the past partnered temporary registration officers with teachers; only for the commission to be hauled over hot coal by some members of the society who read malice in the process.

“We did that to avoid such incidents but we were condemned by some people who said registration should be left to unemployed young people,” she said.

On others, PLC members called on the Independent Electoral Commission to introduce sitting allowance to attract as many people to the committees as possible.

Mr Pontius Mokgosana, a PLC member and representative of Botswana Congress Party expressed concern that the issue of sitting allowance had not been addressed, despite the fact that it had been discussed in many forums.

Mr Mokgosana said the allowance would make PLCs attractive to many people especially young people who wanted something out of everything they were engaged in.

Ms Lefhele Sebonego, a PLC member and representative of Botswana Council of Women said there was need to augment women representation.

“It is very cumbersome to have only one woman to represent other women in a widely spread region such as Kanye,” she said.

Party liaison committees were established to timeously deal with complaints during elections.

Their key objectives included among others; to foster relationship between IEC and political parties and as among political parties, promote transparency in the delivery of regular free and fair elections as well to enhance the integrity of the electoral process and many others. Ends