Lack of housing, operational space plagues IEC

The Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng has admitted before Parliament recently that inadequate office space and residential staff accommodation for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) which has been existing has now deepened.

He, however, said some of the problems remain unresolved to this day.

“Just as an example, the offices in Bobonong, Gaborone, and Mogoditshane operate from small porta cabins while offices in Kasane, Gumare, Letlhakane, Letlhakeng, and Serowe though operating from Rural Administration Centres, have limited space to accommodate the staff and materials,” the minister said.

Another major challenge Morwaeng said is that they are still facing inadequate transport.

He pointed out that the IEC outstation offices operate with one vehicle each. Morwaeng said this dramatically limits the assignments that can be undertaken at any particular point in time, requiring of use of transport. In addition, he said the situation is aggravated during the electoral processes’ peak times.

He added that despite all the challenges he had highlighted, there is a lot of commitment within the commission to ensure the delivery of free, fair, and credible elections. He continued: “And we can look forward to the 2024 General Election with the hope and belief that indeed they will deliver effectively and efficiently with our support as their critical stakeholders.”

Morwaeng said the proposed combined budget is P246.9 million and of this, P86.1 million or about 35% is the recurrent budget, whilst the development budget estimated amount is P160. 8 million or about 65%. As for the 2023–2024 recurrent budget, the minister proposed P86.1 million for the financial year.

Therefore, he stated it represents an increase of P19.6 million or about 30% more than the 2022–2023 approved budget of P66.5 million.

For salaries and allowance, the minister requested P51.2 million and this represents an increase of P8.9 or about 21% more than the 2022–2023 approved budget of P42.3 million. For travelling and transport, he requested an allocation of P3.8 million. He said this represents a decrease of P2.4 million or about 38% less than the 2022–2023 financial year approved provision of P6.2 million.

He revealed that the funds will be utilised for local subsistence costs, petrol, oil, lubricants, vehicle hire charges, and allowances. As for general expenses, the minister said an amount of P8.6 million is requested for this budgetary item, which represents an increase of P2.1 million or about 33% above the 2022–2023 approved budget of P6.4 million. However, the funds will be used for advertising and publicity, domestic and household requisites, service charges, postal charges and office supplies.