BaZezuru to vote for the first time
Pini Bothoko | Friday May 9, 2014 14:00
Historically they relocated from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, over 53 years ago to Botswana to preach the Word of God. They initially settle at Moroka village in the north-east and later moved to Mandunyane, where they currently reside.
Last year the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Edwin Batshu intervened to help them obtain their ID’s in conformity with their citizenship. Towards the end of the year, national registration and immigration department officers took their services to the ward where they assisted the BaZezuru to register for Omang and birth certificates.
Mmegi visited residents of Maseka ward on Wednesday to do a survey on the resident’s readiness for the October elections and to establish if they have utilised the ongoing second supplementary registration process.
The headman Samuel Mooketsi said that happiness rules in his ward as a majority of the residents have obtained their Omang and birth certificates. He said there are cases of only a few still being attended while a few others are waiting as their applications are still being processed.
He said that ever since beginning of this year members of the community have been given their papers and that they were happy because they have been living miserably over the years without legal documentation like other citizens.
“Those who have Omang cards registered to vote last year and those who obtained their cards this year have been registering in the supplementary registration. They are over the moon that this year they will cast their votes for the first time ever in their lives,” he said.
He said they have not even enjoyed government programmes like other citizens saying the change has given their ward as well as the entire village a new beginning.
“The processes of obtaining Omang cards were delayed because the majority of residents did not have birth certificates. They were born in their homes, not at hospitals and as such they had to have witnesses to prove that they were born in Botswana.
“The situation was worse for those who are orphans and needed more attention in avoiding cases in which illegal immigrants end up obtaining IDs,” said Mooketsi.
Madzivo Madzivo, 34, was busy shaping up a zinc bath with the tools of the trade when Mmegi visited his shed. The middle-aged man who obtained his Omang last month said that he was overjoyed.
“I have been waiting for this moment for years in my life. I have always wished to see myself voting for the party of my choice. I registered three days ago in this second supplementary registration. I am so happy, “ he said.
Madzivo said that life was hard before because the police used to trouble them looking for Omang and also that they could not apply for jobs without IDs. “I could have been hired with others to construct the Tonota/Francistown road, but I failed because they wanted us to show them our IDs. I am happy that now I will do what I want.
“I am a carpenter and I have always wanted to be assisted with funds to construct a workshop. Nhappy I can apply for assistance under the poverty eradication programme to operate a high standard workshop,” he said.
His father Ephraim Madzivo disclosed that it was a difficult thing to raise a child without Omang because they spent most of their time troubled by police who mistook them for illegal immigrants. Madzivo senior said he had to be available all the time to witness on behalf his children and close relatives.
“I had two wives and the elder one is late. It was a challenge to obtain Omang and birth certificates for my 22 children and my grandchildren, but since minister Batshu intervened, things have improved and we are now getting assistance without any hitches,” he said. Teramaye Chitore, 45, said he has had Omang since his teens and it would his fourth time to vote this year.
“We are ready to vote. Only a few of us who have been in possession of the IDs have been voting, but this year a majority of the BaZezuru will be seen casting their votes because of late I have seen them going in and out of the ward to register,” he said.
Chitore said that because a majority of BaZezuru in the village obtained Omang, this has brought peace and contentment to the villagers because the police who used to mistake them for illegal immigrants no longer trouble them.
An IEC officer at Maseka ward said there had been a trickle of BaZezuru coming to register. The officer, who declined to be identified, attributed the small numbers to the fact that a majority of them might have registered in the last registration exercise. Maseka ward, commonly referred to as Zezuru ward, is on the right when entering Mandunyane from the A1 Road.