05 Jun 2019

Independent Electoral Commission public relations officer Mr Osupile Maroba says unless a decision is made to repeal some clauses in the Electoral Act, officials have no powers to contravene the set rules, but only to implement the act in its current form.

Making a presentation at Kweneng District full council meeting on June 4, he said IEC officials had limited powers and were only responsible for implementing the existing act as it is, while amendments of the law can be done by the legislature.

Mr Maroba’s response was prompted by the councillors’ views on the need to have some IEC clauses revoked or amended,because they had been overtaken by the events.

“Let us have your views presented to the IEC after elections, so that they can be looked into during evaluations of the election processes and passed on to relevant authorities for appropriate action,” advised Mr Maroba. 

Over issues raised by cllr Susan Kenosi on what IEC was doing to reach out to people with challenges, for example assisting them for registration and voting at their respective homes, he stated that there was nothing they could do in such situations since the law remains silent on such. 

Election, as he stated, is an emotive process, and therefore it will be difficult to interfere with the existing arrangement as it may affect the entire electoral processes by bringing in some issues outside the act.

He reminded cllrs about the danger of registering outside ones principal residential area, stating that by so doing, one will be contravening the Electoral Act and be liable for prosecution as well as risking to be removed from the voters roll.

He said candidates were free to contest elections anywhere, but could only vote in areas considered their permanent residences. 

“Let us adhere to the requirements of the law to avoid the repercussions that may occur as a result,” said Mr Maroba.

Some of the challenges facing the IEC, he indicated, include vastness of some areas, inadequate human, financial and transportation resources. 

 Other challenges include language barriers, abuse of social media as well as the increasing numbers of independent candidates. 

Gabane North East’s Cllr Ofentse Mareme emphacised the need for public education, arguing that a lot still needed to be done, looking at the fact that even councillors who are political representatives appear to be ignorant on most issues pertaining to IEC Act, therefore cannot be relied upon for information dissemination to electorate. ENDS