IEC boss fumbles before PAC
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Friday October 12, 2018 13:39
The topic was a hot potato on Monday as members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) expressed their fear and discomfort over an exercise that they said could open up floodgates for cheating in the general elections. They said that they were not entirely convinced as to the current provision, saying it is against the law and has far reaching risks as parties could subject the information to abuse during the general elections.
“This information once collected is a diamond to any political institution. How are you going to ensure that it is not subject to abuse?
The risk of taking the numbers of people who have come to register far exceeds the convenience you explain,” Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington South Ndaba Gaolathe said.
Gaolathe said that if the IEC system could be hacked, then it would jeopardise the elections. He warned the IEC to tighten its risk and management strategy lest it runs the risk of having chaotic elections.
Jwaneng-Mabutsane MP, Shawn Ntlhaile said the decision is unlawful and should be reversed.
He stated that the IEC could find other ways of improving their systems other than taking voters’ numbers.
Specially Elected MP Mephato Reatile said that the decision to take people’s cell numbers is likely to tarnish the name of Botswana as a shining example of democracy.
Like Gaolathe, he said the information is very risky and its safeguarding is not guaranteed. Reatile said that this would put the credibility of the 2019 elections in bad light.
The members further said that with the modern technology, it would be easy for politicians to use those contact numbers to sway voters to their side with just one message conveyed to multiple numbers.
In response, Zuze tried to explain why the 2019 election voters’ registration form demanded that people should provide their cell numbers to the IEC officials, but fell short of convincing the committee members who continued to probe on the matter.
Zuze tried to explain in vain that although it is not provided for in the law that such information should be collected, the decision was just an administrative one aimed at creating convenience.
“We thought that administratively it can assist us to trace people when there is a problem because we believe that every vote counts. We realised for the 2014 registration that there were mistakes, which meant that other people were cancelled in the voters’ roll at the end, and denied a chance to vote because we couldn’t find them to rectify those little mistakes. So, we thought these would help us rectify these mistakes conveniently so that all who have registered do vote in the end,” Zuze explained.
Moreover, she said that the information they collect becomes a package with the registration books and is kept under safe custody of the IEC.
She also stated that they have talked to their registration agents about the sensitivity of the information they collect from the people as they are developing an electoral risk management plan for the safe guarding of information.
On other issues related to the ongoing voters’ registration, Zuze said that they have already noticed incidents of voter trafficking, especially in towns.
She said that the incidents are high in towns compared to rural areas, adding that they recently traced people who had been dropped at one polling station at Old Naledi in the Gaborone South constituency only for their investigations to reveal that they had been trafficked.
Regarding the recent reported robbery incident in Francistown, Zuze said that two registration books were stolen.
She said that the other book had not been used while the other had registered only 18 people.
“It’s now a police matter, but I must say we have so far managed to get a hold of 15 people who had registered and managed to cancel the serial numbers of the stolen books. Where we have the books, we try to step up for their safe custody,” she said.
Meanwhile, Zuze said that they have proposed to Cabinet for Election Day to be stipulated in the Constitution. She said that would help the commission to plan better for elections.