04 Apr 2023

Member of Parliament for Okavango, Mr Kenny Kapinga has called for the establishment an electoral tribunal,  which will look into concerns pertaining to elections.

Contributing to the debate on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill of 2023 on Monday, Mr Kapinga argued that the electoral tribunal was critical because it had transpired that during petitions of the 2019 general elections results by some opposition candidates that the cases were dismissed based on legal technicalities instead of merits.

“Issues relating to conduct of an election will be fairly dealt with if determined by an election tribunal. It is important to assure the nation that the governing party is lawfully elected into power. Instead of focusing on amendments sections of the law that will make the process credible, government only focused on penalties,” he argued.

As such, he said the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act should have included establishment of such a tribunal which would act as a court of impartiality on the merits of a cases brought before it.

Mr Kapinga, like some opposition legislators, argued that the Bill should have included some amendments such as political party funding, counting of ballots at respective polling stations and not at a central point as was currently the case as well as provision of all parties fair and balanced access to public media.

“All parties taking part in general elections must be given fair and equal coverage by government media. The proposed amendments to the Act are not looking at issues relating to fairness and equity of the electoral process,” he said.

For his part, Vice President, also Boteti West MP, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said it was important for legislators to focus on the proposed amendments rather than coming up with new issues that were not included the Bill.

“Even though viewed important, some issues will come to Parliament at a different time and you are allowed to do so through members’ private bill. The issue at hand is whether we agree with the amendments proposed in the current Bill or not,” Mr Tsogwane said.

He supported the proposed amendments which would enable accurate and secure registration of voters by electronic means via introducing publication of existing voters roll on electronic media, including the Independent Electoral Commission website.

On the proposed increase on penalties relating to the elections process, Mr Tsogwane said such were meant to deter any form of wrong doing and in turn encourage the public and everyone involved in the elections to abide by the law.

Mr Tsogwane also advocated for the use of the Electoral Voting Machine.

Sefhare/Ramokgonami MP, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang, dismissed the Amendment Bill, arguing that it did not touch on issues of concern to the society. 

“The Bill does not represent the interests of the society,” said Dr Gobotswang.

He argued that the playground was not level as the ruling party was enjoying coverage by public media while opposition parties were asphyxiated.

On political party funding, Dr Gobotswang alleged that the ruling party was being funded to campaign for elections by companies that were rewarded by getting lucrative tenders. He said political party funding was one of the priority issues that were of concern to the public and opposition parties. He said allowing companies to fund political parties would result in a situation where such companies imposed their say in the running of government.

Supporting the proposed amendments, Gaborone South MP, Mr Dumizweni Mthimkhulu said the electoral process must be handled with care for a credible, fair and free election. 

Therefore, Mr Mthimkhulu said, it was critical that as and when necessary, the legislation guiding the election process be reviewed to address  shortcoming.

He said it was also important that recording gadgets should not be allowed  into the polling booth in order to protect the secrecy of the ballot. “The law will protect the voters as there were allegations that some candidates will request for video footage and photos from voters as evidence that they have voted for them and get payment in return,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition, also Selebi Phikwe West MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse said the Bill was inadequate. 

He said IEC had long proposed a bill advocating for its independence. He said under the current law, the IEC secretary was appointed by the President, who was equally contesting the elections,and the commission’s  employees were under government, a situation which rendered the it  not autonomous.

He also supported suggestions pertaining to counting of ballots at polling points including those in the diaspora. He added that an indubitable ink must also be used to mark those who had cast their votes to avoid voting more than once.

Lentsweletau/Mmopane MP, Ms Nnaniki Makwinja said democracy was an expensive process, therefore the laws in place must be amended accordingly to be at par with the challenges in order to get desired results.

Therefore, Ms Makwinja said all electoral processes must be transparent and understood by all. 

She said what was proposed by the Bill was meant to strengthen the electoral laws to avoid the likelihood of contaminating the process. 

“The rule of law, democracy, fair and free elections that the country is known for must be enforced,” she said. ends