IEC accused of aiding BDP

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday January 24, 2014 16:24

While the IEC has blamed lack of funds for their lack of marketing and visibility in the run-up to the election, BCP Youth League President Dithapelo Keorapetse this week said this shows that the IEC has no interest in its responsibility to ensure there is a conducive environment for delivery of elections.

Since the IEC has done little advertising in print, electronic and social media and has not done any outreach campaigns to tertiary institutions, it has disenfranchised youth, who make up a significant percent of the population, Keorapetse charged.

“In this cynical IEC operation, only the BDP stands to benefit because the IEC has disenfranchised the youth by excluding them from elections in a systematic way,” he wrote in a press statement.  Keorapetse is also the BCP parliamentary hopeful for Selebi-Phikwe West.

Keorapetse dismissed the explanation that the IEC does not have enough resources to adequately publicise the election, saying preparations for the coming elections should have started immediately after the previous general elections. “The IEC speaks of lack of resources yet it is public knowledge that Botswana conducts elections every five years. The IEC or the minister responsible has not sought supplementary budget yet they speak of lack of resources,” he said.

Keorapetse charges that this lack of publicity is a “clever way of aiding the BDP win elections because only BDP ministers are able to take the message of voter registration to therural areas at the expense of the tax payer, on the pretext of kgotla meetings. This is a major concern to the BCPYL because it amounts to stealing an election that has not even started.”

In their 2009 General Elections Report, the IEC named advertising and publicity among their biggest spenders, alongside personal emoluments and internal travel.  This week the IEC deferred from naming both the total budget figures for the 2014 elections, as well as the money set aside for advertising and publicity ahead of the 2014 elections, saying the figures will be reported during the National Budget presentation, scheduled for February 3, 2014. “Like any other public institution using public funds, the IEC will wait until the budget is approved.  It will be premature and misleading to discuss an estimated budget that may be adjusted after the budget speech and Parliamentary debate,” principal public relations officer Osupile Maroba said.

However, Maroba said that because of an increase in polling stations, additional costs in personal emoluments will be inevitable due to an increase in the number of personnel involved during voter registration and voting.

“It is a common occurrence in a democracy that voter registration and the actual voting exercises attract the highest expenditure because there are phases in the electoral circle that require additional personnel recruited on temporary basis,” he said. Even though the IEC has set a target of registering 1.4 million voters, the potential voters who registered last year during the national voter registration did not make up even half of the target number. Keorapetse blames this on the lack of publicity but also expressed disappointment with the 10-day period set aside for the supplementary voter registration. Keorapetse said the period, scheduled for February 21 to March 2, is unsufficient.  He accused the IEC of promoting voter apathy “in an unprecedented manner.”

In response to the BCPYL charges, Maroba preferred to take the high road, saying: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and as such it is not for me to engage anybody on perceptions. It is his/their unfair thinking that does not constitute factual truth.” Maroba also said the IEC maintains that the period set for supplementary voter registration is adequate, saying it is not the first time the IEC has conducted such a short supplementary voter registration exercise.  He also said anybody is free to engage the IEC on any matter they find to be contravening the principle of credibility in the conduct of an election.