IEC, UDC wait for D’day

Judgement expected on November 10

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) battled it out in court on the 4th of November.

The duo is at loggerheads over the UDC’s petition to have observers at all voter registration centres countrywide during the voter registration process. Advocate for the UDC, who is also the party President, Duma Boko told the court that a political party has an interest in the conduct of the electoral process. Boko’s argument stemmed from the Constitution of Botswana in section 65 (a) and the Electoral Act section 3. He noted that that these sections of the law make the backbone of the IEC and prompted the UDC to make demands for elections that are free from rigging. He said that the UDC waited from the 4th of October for a response to their request which response came through a letter in the evening of 27th October. Boko said that the response from the IEC indicated that they (IEC) will not permit the UDC to deploy observers and the IEC has taken steps to ensure that no anomalies will occur during voter registration. He further revealed that the reluctance of the IEC left the UDC with no choice but to go to court. Boko is surprised at the speed at which the IEC responded regarding the court case, but they did not react with the same urgency when the UDC sent a letter to them on the 4th of October requesting to deploy observers and lay down their concerns to the IEC. He said the fact that the IEC does not want to allow observers during voter registration is fishy as the expectation is that there is nothing to hide. He said there is no harm on the part of the IEC by allowing observers to observe elections. “This is merely unanchored speculations, it’s just a supposition,” Boko noted, adding that the claim that voters will be intimidated by their observers is not a fact as there are no facts, research or surveys to prove this. However, he downplayed their argument to a prophecy and urged the court to disregard the IEC’s stance as there is no intimidation by someone who is just observing people who are doing something. Boko believes that when the IEC is being observed, its registers will do their job diligently with no errors as they will be observed as they do their work. He added that the law recognises the right for people to participate in the electoral process and the electoral process begins with the voter registration exercise. He also argued that silence of the legislation on the matter does not mean that it is not prohibited as prohibition should be expressed and it should be clear.

Advocate for the IEC, Otsile Rammidi said that IEC has been constitutionally empowered to run elections and no other body has been given this role. He also noted that there is no real concern coming from the UDC as their issue against the IEC stems from vote rigging allegations which have no proof. He therefore said the application of the UDC against the IEC is not urgent.Further, that the alleged irregularities that the UDC is complaining about are said to have transpired in the 2019 elections and the UDC has never made this request or a similar request of this nature and they have not deployed observers in any elections. Rammidi wondered why the UDC waited so long since 2019 to lodge their complaints if their concerns were genuine. UDC further stated that the voter registration exercise should be efficient and proper and if the UDC is allowed to have observers they may hinder them, a factor that is interlinked with delivering free and fair elections. The court case between the two parties has culminated in the postponement of the voter registration exercise which was to commence on the 1st of November 2023 and now it will begin on the 13th of November 2023. The judgement will be passed on the 10th of November at 10am.