As the election cycle begins with the Voters’ Registration exercise from November 1 to 31, 2023, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) will launch the ‘A re ikwadiseng Tour’ tomorrow at Diphetogo grounds.
The Tour will run from the October 28 to November 6, 2023 and will cover major centres of the country. UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa said the purpose of the tour is to encourage voter registration for the forthcoming general election. “Leaders of the AP {Alliance for Progressives} and BPF {Botswana Patriotic Front} have been invited to the launch. The president of the UDC will lead the Tour,” he said in an interview yesterday. “The president's addresses will end with two major rallies in Palapye and Serowe on October 5. The Tour will, however, officially end on November 7.” The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has also embarked on a countrywide stakeholder engagement exercise to publicise and educate Batswana on the upcoming Voter Registration exercise. However, Mohwasa bemoaned that the IEC campaign has not been that robust. “We felt it would also be important that we also encourage people to go and register,” he added.
In terms of voters’ challenges during registration and how the UDC is going to address various issues during the tour, Mohwasa stated that major challenges have been voter apathy and lack of energy on the part of voters who register. He outlined that some do not register because they have lost confidence in the current system. The UDC president this week during a media brief mentioned something that they have engaged the IEC in order to allow registration clerks to help observe the registration process. Mohwasa said instead of recruiting these clerks during their tour, the structures will appoint their own Madibela Tlhopho cadres who will run with monitoring voter registration. Madibela Tlhopho is an official group or arrangement endorsed by the UDC National Executive Committee (NEC) whose primary purpose is to protect the electoral system.
With registration expected to open floodgates of the voter trafficking phenomenon, Mohwasa pointed out that the concept of Madibela Tlhopho looks at adherence to the electoral act. He said trafficking is a breach of the Act and therefore they will have interest in exposing it.
