Electoral fraud exposed
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday May 9, 2014 15:12
Mmegi investigations have revealed that P1,500 is enough for a candidate to gain access to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) voter registration books after hours. A politician in one constituency in Gaborone revealed that his colleagues would give a temporary registration officer a bundle of Omang cards of trafficked voters to register at home after hours.
“Usually this dirty game is done where a registration officer stays somewhere where they cannot be spotted. These Omang cards are taken from people in different areas especially in villages and are trafficked in Gaborone,” said the politician who did not want to be named.
She said this practice is common across all political parties. Although she knows the culprits, she said it would be difficult to prove the fraud.
One of the parliamentary candidates at Gaborone Bonnington South, who did not want to be named, is struggling to expose a competitor suspected to be central to the fraud.
“It is difficult to address it, I am consulting one or two of my lawyer friends to seek a smart way of solving the puzzle,” said the candidate who did not want to be named.
In some areas, trafficked voters are physically taken to the home of the IEC officer to register. In one of the villages not far from Gaborone, a registration officer is said to have chased a parliamentary candidate who arrived at night at his home with two mini-buses of trafficked voters. The IEC officer told the opposing party members that when he expressed shock at the night visit, the candidate’s handlers told him the deal is he would be paid P50 per registration.
“Thankfully he had the decency to chase them. Imagine being paid to make 10 registrations a night. That will be P500 a night,” said a council candidate in the village, who wondered how many registration officers could resist the temptation.
The fraudulent registration is feared will compromise the IEC, its credibility and even of the election.
Botswana Congress Party (BCP) parliamentary candidate for Francistown East, Morgan Moseki noted that the process of free and fair election must ensure that elections are free from the day of registration. Moseki said the registration officers in Botswana are generally temporary engaged personnel, many of whom are decent and are doing their job well.
“But they can be subjected to abuse by unscrupulous politicians to assist them during off hours. By nature they are vulnerable because they are unemployed. If a politician was to offer a substantial sum it wouldbe difficult to resist the temptation of assisting the politician.
We have a myriad of characters who are capable of doing this,” said Moseki.
He said for the IEC to be heard to be saying the registration is perfect is surprising when the registration officers are left to their own devices. “Something must be done to protect the sanctity of free and fair elections.
They must provide full proof of the process from registration to voting.”
Francistown South legislator and Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) candidate, Wynter Mmolotsi concurred. Mmolotsi said it was possible that some politicians are taking advantage of IEC loopholes. Mmolotsi was of the hope that the IEC would do something differently after similar incidents were reported at Selebi-Phikwe and Lobatse.
Two months ago an independent candidate in Lobatse was arrested after being implicated in the theft of the IEC documents. His arrest followed the arrest of three temporary IEC registration officers by the police after allegations of theft of the documents.
“I feel IEC should collect the books after work, and give them to officers in the morning. The books should be checked regularly especially before they knock off and when they come to work,” Mmolotsi said. He said they are disappointed by the fact that IEC has not taken or changed its way of handling voter registration books especially after two reported cases.
Mmolotsi wondered how the IEC could manage elections if it could not resolve simple issues of registration.
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) executive secretary Sechele Sechele has advised the IEC to be vigilant so that trust is not lost in the election body.
“I feel the IEC should look into those issues and appropriate action be taken against the culprits. I don’t think the BDP members can do such a thing because we always tell our members not to take part in voter trafficking or any dirty game when it comes to elections,” Sechele said.
In response, the IEC principal relations officer Osupile Maroba said if anyone is found to be involved in illegal registration, appropriate action will be taken.
He said free and fair election sis determined by the correct implementation of the existing legal framework that prescribes how elections should be conducted right from registration of voters.
“The law again prescribes how disputes regarding the processes should be handled particularly on issues of illegal electoral practices similar to those in reference. The IEC will take appropriate action against perpetrators, in accordance with the existing legal processes as prescribed in the Electoral Act,” said Maroba.
The reason why the registration officers take registration books home is to create convenience to all applicants/voters irrespective of their location, he said.
“This facilitates adherence to the legal time frame within which such registration should take place... No person other than voter registration officers is allowed to handle the registration books, and any act in the contrary becomes an illegal practice that carries fines and imprisonment terms,” said Maroba.
He denied that by allowing the registration officers to go home with registration books was tantamount to opening the process to abuse. “That is not the thinking of the Commission because these officers are trained and further cautioned against illegal election practices. They are also cautioned against possible unscrupulous actors during this process.
They are encouraged to report any acts of bribes to the relevant authorities in their respective areas of assignment,” insisted the IEC spokesperson.
He also denied that the IEC was dragging its feet in curbing the problem.
“Unless our valued stakeholders have a solution that they are withholding from the commission, then one would think the commission is taking forever or doing nothing to curb the problem,” he said.
Maroba insisted that the IEC has intensified training of registration officers by emphasising the requirement of the law.
“The commission is convinced that the problem does not lie with the administration of the process per se, but rather perpetuated by corrupt elements of our own society whom regardless of any improvements thereon, will always find a way to abuse the wisdom of the process. We all have to find a solution as a collective.”
Maroba concurred that the Lobatse incident was a tip of the iceberg and that voter trafficking is rampant across the country.
He added that that is why the IEC encourages and emphases inspection of rolls by the general public. He said inspection of voters’ roll is the most effective approach provided in the law to expose corrupt elements and accordingly charge them.
“I wish to make a call to everyone who forms part of this society (Botswana) to protect the integrity of the electoral process by refraining from abusing the process or by reporting any act of election illegal practice,” he said.