Zim benchmarking fuels rigging fears

Spira Tlhankane | Monday February 19, 2024 06:00

The Court of Appeal’s (CoA) judgment to prevent the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) from observing and monitoring the voters’ registration period raised eyebrows but rigging fears have gained momentum since 2019 with some sections of the society dismissing it as nothing but a conspiracy theory by the opposition. The opposition, especially the UDC believes the only way they are going to lose the upcoming election is if the process is rigged. The Zimbabwe trip has now unleashed a wave of social media posts from members of the opposition.

The IEC’s decision to benchmark from a country that is known for not upholding democratic electoral standards has opened up a constellation of vote-rigging allegations which now feeds the opposition’s theories of stolen-election claims. Now the IEC benchmarking exercise in Zimbabwe wakes up a sleeping giant as the opposition is taken back to 2019 when they sought to overturn the outcome of the election.

2019 petitions, the start of rigging allegations

In the 2019 General Election aftermath, the leader of the opposition coalition UDC Duma Boko had lost his parliamentary seat to Anna Mokgethi in what was a big upset in Gaborone Bonnington North. People couldn’t believe it and Boko himself couldn’t come to terms with the fact that he had lost. Unproven claims morphed into a theory about how the IEC and BDP had stolen the election from the UDC. As the stolen election claims gained momentum Boko approached the courts seeking to overturn the election result with election petitions. But unfortunately for him, in January 2020 the CoA dismissed with costs 14 UDC election petitions. The petitions were dismissed citing a lack of jurisdiction. The UDC had petitioned the court and contested the outcome of the elections citing “irregularities in some of the constituencies”. Before the CoA judgment, the petitions were dismissed by the High Court a day before Christmas Day in 2019. Boko’s stolen election claims were discredited by judges in election petitions that failed to overturn the election result.

Boko’s tall tale, continued fearsAfter the election petitions failed to overturn the result, Boko lay dormant for a while and upon return he remained adamant in his belief that the 2019 General Election was rigged by the BDP. Boko was still skeptical of the electoral process and continued his insistence that in 2019 he was cheated by a systemic voter fraud. While some believe that his election rigging story was nothing but a tall tale Boko alleged that there were a lot of irregularities that happened under the IEC’s watchful eye in 2019.

Boko said with the election petitions, his rivals managed to empanel judges who ended up doing grave injustice. “The outcome of the petitions’ case was not because there was no evidence rather the judges chose to ignore the evidence before them. In those cases, there were mountains of evidence. The integrity of the Judiciary was also called into question,” he alleged.

Formation of Madibela TlhophoAs the opposition’s mistrust in the IEC heightened, Boko formed Madibela Tlhopho as a remedy and the group presented itself as the guardians of the electoral system despite being painted as hooligans. As he drilled Madibela Tlhopho, Boko emphasised that the group should be brave and not wobbly cowards who are easily intimidated and threatened. He said Madibela Tlhopho should keep IEC close for thorough scrutiny. “Madibela Tlhopho verify and can even search a police car to make sure that the law is followed,” he indicated. He pointed out that Madibela Tlhopho was conceived to protect the electoral system and therefore has the right to ensure that the electoral act is respected.

Fear of inciting violence

The formation of MadibelaTlhopho out of fear of rigging meant that the latter had to be tested during a by-election in Serowe West. Madibela Tlhopho was in full swing as they searched every car and person entering the election venue in Serowe. Following a clash with the police, there were accusations that the group just there to incite violence. Even Boko’s comments didn’t help much as people painted the group with a hooliganism brush. “Whoever tries to steal elections should be impeded, if they are obstinate we should use the same force to tame or thwart their cheating actions,” he said at the time. He warned would-be election fraudsters adding that the latter could lose their lives because what they are doing is disrespecting and trampling on people’s lives. Boko stressed that it is necessary for Madibela Tlhopho to use force when someone attempts to rig elections.

Asked if they are trying to incite violence with voter fraud claims, Boko said then that they were merely stating what they see because people are angry. He said they are not going to kill anyone but they were warning whoever would try to transgress the boundaries. “IEC must take it in that spirit; we are not inciting any violence. I am the custodian of people’s feelings so I know that they are angry. When you subvert democracy, other people will engage in extra-legal means and it will result in civil strife. We are warning in order to prevent all these from happening,” he pointed out.

IEC, UDC registration sagaThe voters’ registration period which officially starts the election cycle was supposed to run from November 1 to November 30, 2023 but the fact that the UDC wanted the IEC to allow it to monitor and observe the process changed the game. Francistown High Court decided to allow the UDC to observe the period as the opposition outfit breathed fire on IEC’s neck. The UDC clerks were supposed to record the names and national identity card numbers of the people registering to vote and record the serial numbers of the people registering to vote.

In addition, the UDC agents were to be allowed to record the serial numbers of the registration booklets for each and every registration day at the opening and closing thereof. IEC couldn’t have any of that as it postponed the registration period twice until the matter was finally resolved by the apex court. IEC said it wouldn’t let the UDC anywhere near the process because it would have no way of supervising the latter’s conduct. In the end, the CoA ruled in favour of the IEC ending months-long squabble.

IEC, Zimbabwe trip ignites powder kegWhile the dust seemed to settle with the registration period completed on February 3 without any chaos, the IEC irked opposition members this week when it was reported that they were in Zimbabwe to learn about the management of electoral activities and the conduct of elections from Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). It was reported that the visiting IEC delegation would focus on the management of electoral activities and the conduct of elections. In a statement IEC acknowledged that it was in Zimbabwe but only for the sole purpose of looking at ZEC’s accreditation machine for election observers which has been hailed as the best.

For the opposition the IEC had been sitting on a powder keg, therefore, the Zimbabwe trip was a spark that could ignite a conflagration. “The mission of Botswana’s IEC in Zimbabwe is simple, just to benchmark on how to rig an election,” Botswana National Front (BNF) secretary-general, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said it a statement.

“All Batswana are now compelled to wake up to the reality that Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi and his Government will do any and everything in their reach to cling on to power by rigging 2024 elections,” Botswana Congress Party (BCP) spokesperson, Mpho Pheko said.

Now, as the rigging claims built within members of the opposition it will be difficult to know if they will accept an unfavourable result come October. Perhaps with the Zimbabwe trip the IEC may have scored an own goal in terms of reputation and association. And as the election cycle heats up, more allegations could pop up and it will be up to the IEC to knock them down and assure Batswana that the Commission is still capable of delivering free, fair and credible elections.