Free SADC electoral commissions

Mmegi Editor | Thursday August 25, 2016 11:46

The study found that where the balance of power between the executive and Parliament is lopsided, commissions face stiff challenges including absence of founding legislation and meddling by the executive in the appointment of staff.

Within the spectrum of challenges EMBs in the SADC region, the two most common are the dire lack of independence from the executive and poor funding. SADC citizens demand credible electoral processes and these largely stem from independent, well-funded EMBs, which are free of both executive influence and financial inadequacies. Examples are rife in the region where elections results have been bitterly contested, stalling the economy and plunging the population into despair as a result of polarised or ineffective EMBs.

Just across the border in Zimbabwe, that country’s EMB has long been seen as complicit in the deterioration of democratic process, presiding over clearly fraudulent elections and results over the years.

As the study found, politicised, partial and poorly funded EMBs are a major factor in voter apathy as they can be linked to a lack of trust in the electoral process. In Zimbabwe, citizens there have watched every five years as their efforts at the polling booth, often at risk of physical violence by the ruling elite, have been undone by a compromised EMB. The study found that in Botswana, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is not as independent as its name would suggest. The IEC remains funded by government and there are cases where government makes decisions for the commission through the Office of the President.

In addition, the study notes that there are perceptions that the ruling party is in control of the IEC as the President appoints the commission’s secretary.

Botswana’s EMB is far removed from Zimbabwe’s, but there is clearly room for improvement, at a both statutory and structural basis.

The IEC’s funding, as a start, needs to be removed from the purview of central government and handed over to the legislature. At present, the IEC has not been established as an independent legal entity with a legal status separate from government. It functions within the Office of the President and is beholden to the former’s funding and authority.

The IEC should be reconstituted as a body corporate that reports directly to Parliament and is funded from there. It should have full control of its staffing across the hierarchy and have freedom to identify areas where it can further enhance inclusion in the democratic process for all Batswana.

 

Today’s thought 

The people who cast the votes don’t decide an election, the people who count the votes do.’ 

– Joseph Stalin