22 Aug 2017

Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), principal election officer in Maun, Mr Guylord Ralokwae has expressed concern over  ineffectiveness of Party Liaison Committee (PLC) due to non-attendance of members to scheduled meetings.

He said the committee has failed its mandate despite the fact that it plays a vital role in ensuring the integrity of the election process, promotes voter confidence and increases voter participation in elections.

Mr Ralokwae, who is also the chairperson of the PLC, aired his concern during a meeting where few members attended.

He said although the meeting is held once every quarter,  some members have never attend the meeting despite numerous invitations.

Other roles of the PLC, he said, were to promote adherence to code of conduct, particularly for political parties and participate in civic or voter education activities.

Further, he indicated that members’ participation in meetings was crucial as they could share ideas and information, which could assist the IEC to improve on election process and promote democracy.

“This is the forum where we share new developments and challenges encountered in the last election with a view to address such challenges.

Failure to attend the meetings is an inconvenience because we use government resources to prepare for such meetings,” he added.

Mr Ralokwae urged members to cooperate and work as a team as they were heading for national registration next year.

He said non-attendance delayed progress and pleaded with members to encourage others to honour meetings or delegate if they are held up somewhere else.

He also urged members to come up with suggestions on how they could revive the committee and ensure it drives its mandate effectively for the benefit of the community at large.

Meanwhile, the membership of PLC shall be as follows; two representatives from each political party existent in the area of operation of the principal election officer, district commissioner’s’ office, council secretary and tribal secretary will be ex-officio members of the committee.
Other institutions to be represented include Botswana Police Service, youth and women organisations, bogosi, People Living With Disabilities, faith based organisations, trade unions and the media fratenity.

Despite the challenges, Mr Ralokwae informed the gathering that the office managed to embark on voter education to sensitise some key stakeholders about the new developments, but expressed concern that the turn up was not satisfactory except at schools.

Meanwhile, members who attended shared the sentiments about the importance of the committee and advised IEC to write letters to all parties to elect permanent members who could represent them in the committee.

Assistant district commissioner, Mr Ramogaupi Gaborekwe said the election process was a sensitive issue that needed all relevant parties to come on board without failure.

He said the issue of non-attendance and ineffectiveness of the committee should be addressed comprehensively because it was an issue of law, adding that the committee was constituted by Electoral Act.

In addition, he stated that it was imperative for the members to understand the mandate of the committee and ensure it was implemented accordingly.  

“If people fail to attend meetings, it is important to inform their superiors,” he said.

Long time member, Ms Motlagomang Mauchadza supported the suggestion to revive the committee by requesting each political party to send representatives.

She appreciated that IEC office made efforts to follow up members, but to no vain and stressed the need to start afresh.

However, it was reported that some members complained about lack of sitting allowance, hence they failed to attend the meetings. ENDS