14 Mar 2019

Gaborone-Bonnington South legislator, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe has described the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) as an important institution necessary for Botswana to have a strong democracy.

Debating the IEC budget proposals for the 2019/20 financial year on March 13, Mr Gaolathe said because of its importance, it was crucial that the institution be strengthened so that it could effectively serve its purpose.

He said it was therefore vital to build a strong IEC that could continue to feed the country’s democracy.

Mr Gaolathe also called for adequate funding of the institution, saying its budget was too inadequate to allow it to properly contribute to building a strong democracy.

The MP also raised concern about the ongoing supplementary voter registration, saying it was discriminatory to blue-collar workers who failed to find time to register as registration times coincided with their working hours.

MP for Lerala-Maunatlala, Mr Prince Maele advocated for a code of conduct for politicians.

He said provision should be made that any politician who violated the code of conduct could have their candidature for either a council or parliamentary seat withdrawn.

The code of conduct, Mr Maele said, would help ensure that politicians focused on key issues and the manifestos of their parties instead of ridiculing each other.

He also appealed for the setting up of an electoral court that could hear all issues related to elections and the electoral process.

He said in the absence of such an arrangement, election cases would continue to take long to be resolved.

Contributing to the same debate, MP Buti Billy of Francistown East spoke on the necessity to make the IEC fully independent, and not to have it placed under any government ministry.

Furthermore, he said it was crucial to resource it, arguing that the lack of resources could hamper its effectiveness in discharging its mandate.

On the other hand, Mr Billy advised the IEC to engage all key stakeholders such as the media, churches and NGO’s, and to ensure that they were informed on its mandate.

He highlighted that it needed to sensitise voters on their rights in relation to elections and the electoral process.

MP for Mahalapye West, Mr Joseph Molefe said the IEC should do its work with integrity so as to contribute to the existence of peace in the country.

Like other legislators, he also appealed for the adequate resourcing of the institution, saying that it was sad that the IEC still operated under resource constraints. ENDS