20 May 2019

Nominated councillor for Mogoditshane, Ms Susan Kenosi has blamed the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for poor performance during the just ended voter registration exercise.

Although the registration exercise was an effort to afford Batswana a chance to register for general elections in large numbers, the turnout was not satisfactory.

Commenting on the sub-council chairman speech recently, Councillor Kenosi blamed the low turnout on the IEC office, which she accused of doing little to sensitise the general public for the registration exercise.

She said instead, the office left the registration exercise 'in the hands of politicians.'

She said the number of illegible voters for this year was more or less the same as for the 2014 general elections.

Ms Kenosi therefore posited that the numbers implied that in the five-year period, the number of young illegible voters had not increased, or there were no deaths recorded for the entire period.

With all these presuppositions, she called on the IEC to furnish the council with answers.

The councillor further stated that the IEC should not bring forth the issue of shortage of funds because every electioneering year is budgeted for. 

Ms Kenosi said while she appreciated challenges the office faced, she was adamant that they should up their game.

Expressing their concerns on issues concerning their area, councillors complained of the status of roads in the sub-district as well as reluctance of the sub land board to allocate residential plots.

For his part, Ledumadumane councillor, Mr Otlaadisa Kgwatalala cautioned the house to keep an eye on the police with regards to illegal sand mining. ENDS