A Reflection on the Nation in A State of Emergency – The Othered
Monday, October 18, 2021 | 40 Views |
Parliament had to be re-convened to amend the Electoral Act, in order to allow the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to update the voters’ role and allow more potential voters to register for the elections. This State of Emergency was described by many Batswana as a scandal caused by the state machinery because it had overlooked such an important aspect of the electoral process and used a SoE to make the amendment to the law.
The 2020 State of Public Emergency was declared on 30 March 2020, in accordance with section 17 of the Botswana Constitution. Botswana registered its first positive COVID-19 cases in March 2020 - all of which had been imported into the country. By the end of April 2020, the numbers had risen to 22 with 1 fatality and 2 local transmissions, the rest being imported. This prompted the Government of Botswana to put in place measures to contain the virus.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...