What immediately struck me was the long queue of citizens, women and men, from all social backgrounds and ages, patiently waiting to act on their electoral right. All were smartly dressed and waiting patiently, chatting away to each other. Once they had voted, they resumed their conversations – it was a social day out for them as much as it was their civic duty to vote. Helping set the calm atmosphere were the local and international observers. There was almost an opening ceremony to proceedings when the Independent Electoral Commission staff opened and showed the empty ballot box to everyone just before the official opening.
I had decided to go outside Gaborone to check the pulse of the nation beyond the capital and spent the day with Anney Aves (my PA) driving around Lobatse, Goodhope and Hebron. This seemed to me to be a good mix of urban, semi-urban and rural areas. We stopped for a late picnic breakfast under a tree having made sure there was no one around for miles. Within minutes, we were giving some of our snacks away. The day sped by and ended with us watching the count unfold back at Lobatse (after an excellent dinner at the Cumberland Hotel). I got back home at 23:00. Tired but enthused and exhilarated. We did not have an official observation mandate which meant there was no report to write, but we were officially invited to observe proceedings as were our other diplomatic colleagues. We coordinated our activities and covered more than 20 constituencies. This gave us a good idea how the electoral process was conducted, from voting to counting and the announcement of the results.
