Opposition question sudden surge in the voters� roll
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday August 29, 2014 15:56
Mmegi has established that most voters’ rolls in some opposition strongholds have swelled overnight with new additions.
For an example, the Bobonong constituency – which analysts have opinioned that the Botswana Congress Parry (BCP) has made inroads in, has seen a sudden surge, with over 2000 new names to its roll. When the last registration closes, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) published statistics showed that 15,379 eligible voters had registered in the constituency. This week, Mmegi discovered that the number in the voters’ rolls had gone up by 2179.
Another constituency, Gaborone South - which though in the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) hands, has always been the stronghold of the opposition, Botswana National Front, which is in the coalition of the Umbrella for Democratic Change - has also seen a sudden swell. At the close of the second supplementary in May, the constituency has 12841 registered voters. Now it stands at 13597, an increase of 756.
Interestingly, where rumour of voter trafficking had been rife, Gaborone Central, the numbers have gone down by 481. In the last count, the opposition held constituency has14 533, but now it is down to 14 054.
The BCP president Dumelang Saleshando is the incumbent of the constituency that was recently shaken by the death of a contender and UDC vice president, Gomolemo Motswaledi. Media activist Phenyo Butale has since been roped in as UDC candidate, with BDP fielding Reverend Rupert Hambira and well-known radio personality, Sidney Baitsile coming in as an independent.
In reaction, the BCP executive secretary and Gaborone South candidate, Akanyang Magama said they had demanded answers from IEC on the matter.
“We had realised that the numbers of IEC voters roll have increased drastically as compared to those from preliminary one. We do not believe that the numbers could increase that much after IEC’s initial audit. What we want to know is what led to this sudden increase? And the details of the voters transferring,” said Magama.
He said they are still waiting for IEC response. Magana said what shocked them the most is the fact that more people allegedly transferred from Gaborone Central to elsewhere. Magama complained that they have realised that some of their members do not appear on the voters roll but appear at IEC offices. He said in Mochudi, 17 of their members have valid voter registration card but their names do not appear on the voters roll.
Wynter Mmolotsi of the UDC told Mmegi they have also gathered that some of their members do not appear on voters roll while they have in fact registered to vote. Without giving an exact figure Mmolotsi said the cases are many and worrying. “We are currently compiling reports and we hope to have exact figures soon,” he said. Some of the missing names have been uncovered in the Mmegi investigations.
On Tuesday at IEC press conference, Gabriel Seeletso assured politicians that if someone name has been omitted on the voter’s roll by mistake, that will be rectified.
But by yesterday afternoon, despite the earlier promises to, the IEC had failed to explain the anomalies in the final voters roll.