P309 million for elections
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday August 27, 2014 16:22
Speaking during a press conference held yesterday, IEC secretary Gabriel Seeletso said this year’s increase is influenced by the fact that unlike in the previous years, election officers will be paid overtime allowances this year.
The IEC’s 2009 general elections report shows that it used P17,035,036.90 for internal travelling and transport and P1,847,886.05 for external costs. The IEC spent P89.72 million on election preparations for financial year 2000/2001 to 2003/2004. Seeletso noted that their only challenge is securing reliable transport. He however noted that they had made a request to government departments to avail vehicles on the day. “Some of the government vehicles that have been availed to us have gone for mechanical service.
We hope that by October, we will be having the number of vehicles we want. There are 2606 polling stations. We need two vehicles for each polling station. The IEC need a minimum of 5799 vehicles without including trucks, he explained.
Seeletso assured party members that elections will be free and fair. He said those who want to check the voters’ roll must make a written request to the IEC.
“I urge politicians or the media to engage us on issues they believe are not done properly during elections. We have 21 embassies outside Botswana and we will soon confirm their election date. The police and election officers who include teachers, engaged to assist on the day, will be allowed to vote before the set date,” he said. He also advised Batswana who have lost their voter registration cards to file for duplicate ones and check that their identity cards have not expired.
He however expressed concern over politicians and public members who vandalise candidates’ posters, adding that this behaviour should be strongly condemned by media and the public. “Everyone has the right to campaign or contest for election. People should be tolerant of each other, and exercise Botho,” he said. The IEC has registered 34 independent candidates for the parliamentary seats and 260 potential councillors.