SADC observer mission deployed countrywide

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday October 16, 2014 16:14

SADC Executive Secretary Stergomena Lawrence-Tax (left) with South African Minister of International Relations Maine Nkoana Mashabane at the SEOM launch on Friday. PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO

Twenty-four teams are made up of 86 observers, coming from Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The observers are divided into three teams and deployed to Gaborone Central/south, Gaborone West and Mogoditshane. The team is compromised of two members from two different SADC Member States.

“The observers have been in Gaborone since last week where they underwent refresher training on election observation offered by the SADC secretariat and conducted by the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA),” said SADC public relations head, Leefa Martin. She said the observers were also addressed by stakeholders - the Independent Electoral Commission, Botswana Police Service, political parties and the civil society.

Martin said the purpose of election observation is to assess whether the electoral process was conducted in accordance with the laws of the country and whether the country’s electoral framework conforms to the international and regional principles, standards norms and best practices.

“While observers do not directly prevent fraud nor do they confer legitimacy to an election, however, the legitimacy of an election can be affected by the conclusions of observers,” said Martin. But observers may also contribute to promote openness and transparency, enhance public confidence in the process, ease tensions and increase security as well as deter improper practices and attempts at fraud and enhance acceptability of results.

The SADC observer delegation has a media team, comprising two communications’ experts from each of the Troika Member States whose responsibility includes monitoring the local media.