FRANCISTOWN: The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has taken a decision to hold a rerun of council primary elections for three wards.
The council primary elections reruns will be held in Tati Town ward in the Francistown West constituency, Tutume North and Tutume West wards in the Nkange constituency. The re-runs will be held on April 6. In Tati Town, the primary election will pit two aspiring council candidates, Beard Maja and Odirile Masebu.
The primary election repeat in Tati Town was occasioned by irregularities that occurred during the initial phase of the party’s primary election for the ward, according Vain Mamela, the BCP’s director of elections. The initial primary election was won by Maja by 75 votes to Masebu’s 70.
After the holding of the first primary election, Masebu formally wrote to the party crying foul that the elections were not conducted in a free and fair manner as contemplated by the constitution of the BCP. Mamela told Mmegi that it was observed that the polling station where the primary election was initially held in Tati Town was closed before time which necessitated the presiding officer to extend the voting time.
Mamela also said that issues of intimidation were observed hence the BCP’s elections appeals tribunal found it fit to have a re-run of the primaries for Tati Town. “While primary elections went well in most areas of the country, some challenges were encountered in Tati Town, Tutume West and Tutume North wards. The party’s elections appeal tribunal found it fit to have primary elections reruns in the concerned wards in line with the party’s constitution. The BCP is a democratic organisation which allows members to freely choose its representatives in a cordial atmosphere hence the decision to hold primary elections reruns in all areas where genuine concerns of irregularities were encountered,” he said.
Explaining the decision to hold primary elections re-runs for Tutume North and Tutume West, Mamela said it was observed that the person who was presiding over the BCP’s internal polls used the wrong voters’ rolls.
“The person who was presiding over the initial primary elections in these wards misplaced voters’ rolls and then decided to use old voters’ rolls which were not updated. The use of the old voters’ rolls had the potential to disenfranchise new registered party members from exercising their right of choosing people they want to lead them. “Henceforth, the party decided to hold these reruns so that our members can exercise their right of choosing their preferred candidates to lead them,” said Mamela.
