Delimitation exercise doubtful as COVID-19 cases surge
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday August 14, 2020 12:59
Politicians have not been sparred either as they are concerned that the delimitation exercise billed for next year could be delayed. Some legislators are therefore praying to see their constituencies ‘change shape’ so that it is not cumbersome to launch campaigns.
Mmegi has learnt that the delimitation exercise that is supposed to take place next year might be deferred if local COVID- 19 transmissions continue rising. Several constituencies might be divided depending on the populations in those areas if the process goes through as planned.
Delimitation exercise requires kgotla meetings, which are normally attended by many people where they are able to express their views regarding the size of the constituencies. Again, it cannot be done if a population census has not taken place. Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President and takes place after every 10 years.
This time, in a rare opportunity, both ruling party and opposition legislators are eagerly looking forward to the exercise. This time they have converging views on large constituencies and population growth, amongst others.
“We hope that this disease will come to an end soon so that next year delimitation process may begin. I will not speak about anyone’s constituency, but I want to see mine being divided because it is big. I take more than a month to hold kgotla meetings and some of the villages have bad roads,” Botswana Democratic Party chief whip, Liakat Kablay who is also Letlhakeng/Lephephe MP said.
“Even some Ministers cannot come to those areas. My areas still have some villages that need development. For example some of the villages need tarred roads. Look how far Lephephe is from Letlhakeng. We need justice to people so that they are served well.” Alliance for Progressives (AP) vice president, Wynter Mmolotsi said population census has to take place before delimitation and it is up to Cabinet whether they want it or not.
“The determination is usually made by Cabinet after a population census looking at the rate at which the population has grown. In the last 10 years, constituencies were not increased but re-alignment of wards was done. Again, the Cabinet may complain of budget constraints but it has not been done for 20 years. I think it is time for delimitation to be done because our population has grown. Some constituencies are so big and it is difficult for an MP to service such kind of a constituency. The Minister responsible for it will have to bring a quota which will determine the number of constituencies it will be increased with,” Mmolotsi said in an interview.
Mmolotsi said it would be unfortunate if the exercise could be postponed.
For his part, National Census Coordinator at Statistics Botswana, Kwenagape Mogotsinyane said the 2021 Population and Housing Census is scheduled to take place in August 2021, with the pilot census scheduled to be conducted in August 2020.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the operations of the project in many ways due to COVID-19 protocols and closure of borders,” Mogotsinyana said. Most importantly, he added, the affected areas of census project are as follows: *Questionnaire development slowed down due to lockdowns, *Procurement processes were affected due to inability to conduct meetings, effects on trade (demand/supply chain) due to closed borders and slow production capacities where commodities are manufactured, *Training/workshops continue to be restricted in frequency, number of attendants/participants and duration. This has affected the many workshops and meetings that are part of preparations, and *As a result of the above, the pilot census is re-scheduled from August to November 2020.
Mogotsinyana said preparations were running on schedule until COVID-19 interrupted them with the first and subsequent lockdowns, as well as, the continued adherence to the pandemic’s protocols and regulations.
He disclosed that preparations were continuing but there is a possibility of the census date being postponed beyond 2021 if its impact heightens to such high levels where it becomes not practical to conduct the exercise.
“Given that the census is a national exercise such postponement would be done following related consultations with government. We are closely monitoring the impact and trajectory of the pandemic as best as we can so that any decision on change of the census plan is made timeously. The Delimitation Commission is one of the immediate users of census information.
If it comes to a point where the census cannot be conducted in 2021, then other alternative means of providing estimated population count figures will be considered for possible use by the Delimitation Commission.”