Boko challenges his ouster
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday November 29, 2019 18:26
In his affidavit, Boko lists out a series of activities leading to his ouster as well as that of other UDC members who lost elections. Boko states that even individuals who did not register to vote were found in the voters roll.
“I have myself come across a number of individuals who state that they never attended at any polling station to register for the 2019 elections and did not expect their names to be in the voters' roll for these elections.
They were shocked to discover after the elections that their names do actually appear in the voters' roll and fear that someone else may have impersonated them and voted purporting to be them.
One of such states that he resides at Block 9 in the Gaborone Bonnington South constituency, but his name appears as registered in Block 3 in the Gaborone Bonnington North constituency. He will be called to testify at hearing of this matter,” a court paper says.
According Boko, a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) member Moemedi Baikalafi who will also give evidence says more than 2, 000 people voted twice in Bonnington North.
The court papers reveal that such mobilised voters were registered in the same way in the other constituencies in Gaborone and the surrounding constituencies of Tlokweng and Mogoditshane, including Lentsweletau-Mmopane and were facilitated to vote in the said constituencies and cast a second vote in Gaborone Bonnington North.
Boko says according to Baikalafi’s knowledge the bulk of all documentation used to prosecute the said fraud was kept in the custody of BDP secretary general Mpho Balopi who stored them at plot number 55741, Tsaru Tsaru Close, his Phakalane residence and Plot 208 Mogoditshane being one of his residences. He said the scheme of double registration by Balopi paid or facilitated the payment of willing Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) voter registration officers an amount between P2, 000 and P5, 000.
“The actual amount paid depended on how well the registration official negotiated. Every registration official had their on voter registration books and were allowed to take the books to their respective homes, so that they could work from home.
Team leaders in various constituencies were appointed to ensure individuals were registered to vote in two or more different constituencies and to be moved to another constituency that needed more votes so that the BDP could win,” Boko says.
He said the registration officials managing voter registration filled in Form A correctly, he/she would intentionally fill in a second form using the same information as the first but omit either a letter in the same name or a number in the identity card.
This according to Boko caused a second individual to be registered on the voters' roll and two pink voter registration cards were issued to the same individual but on the system it recorded as two separate individuals. He said sometime in October 2019, before election day President Mokgweetsi Masisi , Balopi and DIS boss Peter Magosi and others went on a tour around the country and informed team leaders as how to mobilize their voters.
He further said team leaders were paid P2,000 and they held duplicate voters cards in their possession as well as their legitimately issued voters registration cards.
Boko says at Khuduga polling station, Gaolatlheope Lydia Ngaka protested the conduct of the election officers and her remonstrations were captured in an audio recording, which will form part of evidence.
He said Ngaka was protesting the conduct of election officer for allowing persons to vote whose names and details did not appear in the voters' roll and prohibition by the officer of crossing out on the voters' rolls supplied, of voters as they voted.
“The refusal by the election officers to stop the voting in order to address the issue of voters' rolls that were not the same and did not contain the same information as evidenced by the claim by the election officers in rejecting her presentations, that the names of said persons appeared in a voters roll that the election officers claimed to have which had not been availed to the polling agents despite the fact that the election officers had prevented the polling agents from bringing into the polling station a copy of the certified voters' roll and insisted on the polling agents using the voters roll given to them by said election officials,” he said.
The relief sought by Boko is that Mokgethi was not duly elected and no one should be declared as the winner and that declaration made by the returning officer for the said elections to the effect that Mokgethi was duly elected is null and void.
He also wants the court to declare the MP seat for Gaborone Bonnington North constituency
vacant.