We are ready for the by-election

Edward Mpoloka | Friday December 20, 2013 15:13

The elections was postponed following a successful appeal by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) against the refusal by the IEC to register its candidate, Ignatius Moswaane, owing to an internal conflict arising from the party primary elections.

The loss of the case by the BDP last week means that the by- election will take place on January 25 without Moswaane.

The Principal Elections Officer based in Francistown, who is presently on leave, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that when the presidential proclamation to postpone the elections was made on November 21, her team was ready with all the logistics.

In an interview before the Court of Appeal judgement, the Principal Public Relations Officer, Osupile Maroba, said that the IEC was not likely to incur additional expenses due to the postponement. 

He revealed that there could only be additional expenses if the judgment had favoured the BDP because that would have necessitated the printing of new ballot papers with Moswaane’s name on them.

According to Maroba, should there be a need to replace the trained staff in the event that the January 25 date is not suitable for those who had intended to officiate on November 23, new people may have to be trained, albeit at a minimal cost because the IEC uses public venues.

Meanwhile, the opposition remains disappointed by the postponement of the by-election.

While the Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP) candidate, Shathiso Tambula, chooses to see a silver lining in a dark cloud, the campaign coordinator of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Vain Mamela, remains adamant that there is nothing positive about the postponement.

Tambula, angry at the postponement because of the reasons behind it and the financial implications for him and his party, nevertheless says the extra time has afforded a longer period to interact more with voters.

Both find themselves having to make more posters because the old ones have been soaked and washed away by the rains, mostly after the original polling date.

“Even by November 23, we were ready to win because we had done our work within the time we had set for ourselves.

The extension of time has come at great cost to us. It has overstretched us,” the BCP firebrand noted.