02 Sep 2020

 Members of the Francistown based Party Liaison Committee (PLC) have decried lack of implementation of its decisions by the powers that be.

Speaking during a one-day committee meeting organised by the Francistown Independent Electoral Committee (IEC), PLC members said lack of implementation of decisions had rendered the committee to become a ‘toothless dog’.

One committee member, Bishop John Ramotshabi of the Francistown Based Christ International Fellowship, submitted that the committee was in the forefront during election period and therefore its decisions and recommendations must be respected.

“Decisions by these committees across the country are never implemented or taken seriously by government,” he added.

A Botswana National Front (BNF) Francistown East Constituency chairperson, Mr Moses Otsweleng called on various political organisations to be tolerant.

He explained that BNF as one of the oldest parties in Botswana had set aside certain positions for women as a way of empowering them to actively participate in politics.

He concurred with various speakers that women were being sidelined when it came to their representation in politics, citing lack of financial muscle as one major contributory factor.

Mr Otsweleng also suggested that members of the PLC must be mandated to address kgotla meetings in their areas in order to address the problem of voter apathy.

He wondered why councilors and Members of Parliament were not members of the PLC, adding that their contribution could add value to the deliberations of the committee.

Meanwhile, Francistown based principal elections officer, Mr Nyanga Nyanga informed the committee that they were anticipating another voter apathy study before the 2024 general election, which would provide guidance as to why people register in large numbers and failed to vote.

Mr Nyanga explained that such an exercise was conducted in 2002 by IEC and several reasons were cited.  He said IEC had since embarked on vigorous voter education campaigns.

Mr Nyanga stated that the average parliamentary election voter turnout for the three (3) Francistown constituencies stood at 79.3 per cent.

The average local government election voter turnout for Francistown East polling district was 81.2 per cent, Francistown South was 81.4 per cent and 77.3 per cent for Francistown West.

Mr Nyanga also raised a concern regarding the gender imbalance in candidature.

He however noted that only 10 women out of 89 candidates that contested for local government positions in the three constituencies of Francistown East, South and West, which represented 4.35 per cent, 13.51 per cent and 11.24 per cent respectively.

At parliamentary level, Mr Nyanga explained that only one woman contested at Francistown East constituency.

In this regard, Mr Nyanga said there was need for vigorous civic and voter education, adding the number of rejected votes was also worrisome hence the need to train the electorate.

“Voter apathy especially amongst the youth is still a concern. With regard to registered voters per constituency by gender, women tend to register in large numbers than men,” he added.

Mr Nyanga also thanked all stakeholders for their role in ensuring a smooth running of the elections and expressed his gratitude to the PLC members for their contribution towards successful 2019 general elections in Francistown.

 

“We urge you to continue fostering the spirit of Botho, patriotism and self-restrain. Your wisdom and expertise will be required in the future as we are anticipating two major exercises of demarcation and delimitation,” he said. BOPA