Zimbabwe’s disputed elections in August last year were widely viewed as fraudulent. But in a shocking turn of events this week, the IEC was in the neighbouring country supposedly learn about the management of electoral activities and the conduct of elections from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Botswana will hold its General Election in October this year. Various political parties have since condemned the IEC’s decision to travel to Zimbabwe to learn from an institution that does not uphold democratic electoral standards.
When the hot topic reached Parliament this week through the Serowe South Member of Parliament (MP) Leepetswe Lesedi, Tsogwane said he had in the past ordered MPs not to speak ill of Zimbabwe because it is a ‘sovereign state’. He said Zimbabwe is a neighbouring country therefore legislators should not use malice when they comment about it. “Just like other countries, some observers may have said what they said about Zimbabwe elections but we cannot come here and castigate Zimbabwe. There was an issue of Omang and you spoke ill of Zimbabwe and some of you here have relatives in Zimbabwe. If you have nothing good to say about Zimbabwe then just keep quiet,” Tsogwane told MPs. F Tsogwane was responding to Lesedi who had commented that the IEC’s 'benchmarking' in Zimbabwe shows that the 2024 General Election is already rotten. “Zimbabwean elections have been declared as fraudulent so what is the meaning of this,” he said.
