Election observers arrive in Botswana ahead of October 30 poll

Gaborone, Botswana — 

Observers have begun arriving in Botswana to monitor activities ahead of the Oct. 30 general election. On Tuesday, the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, officially launched its mission with a call for peaceful elections.

Tanzania’s former prime minister Mizengo Pinda leads the SADC electoral observation mission, which joins other groups from the Commonwealth and the African Union.

Pinda said the SADC electoral observer's mission is in line with the regional bloc’s aspiration to hold democratic elections within member states.

"When you go to observe an election, first is to get a picture of how prepared the host country is. In this case, we are sure that things have been prepared very well," Pinda said. "But the second thing, of course, the assurance must go beyond that general statement. We want to be sure that peace is prevailing, and that peace will prevail even during the elections."

The SADC has been criticized for failing to hold errant members to account, with the recent Zimbabwe and Mozambique polls blessed as free and fair, despite reported irregularities.

SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi said the bloc can only make recommendations, and its reports are not binding on member states.

"In the reports that are produced by the observation missions, SADC in its nature does not have a carrot-and-stick approach when it comes to these matters," he said. "Ordinarily, SADC urges its member states to abide by its principles or the guidelines. And ordinarily expects member states to implement those recommendations."

However, Magosi said, if the electoral transgressions are considered serious, the matter is referred to the highest decision-making structure, the SADC summit. Heads of state from member nations convene the summit annually.

"Where matters become very serious, through the [SADC] secretariat, the chairperson of the organ is entitled by the guidelines to actually bring those issues before summit for summit to consider," Magosi said.

Only a handful of political party representatives attended Tuesday's SADC observer mission launch. The opposition has alleged there are attempts to rig the poll.

Phenyo Butale of the Alliance for Progressives — which is running under the opposition coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change — said his party sent no one to the meeting, as they believe SADC election observers are compromised.

"We did not find it worthwhile to come to witness this launch because, as you know, they were in Zimbabwe, and they gave a report that said elections ran short of standards set by SADC and the elections were not free and fair," Butale said. "We met the advance observer team and told them that we would not find it worthwhile to engage them until we know what happened to the [Zimbabwe] report."

Botswana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lemogang Kwape said observers will be allowed to carry out their duty unhindered.

"We open our doors, it’s a free country. Go [to] every corner of this country and observe. Interact with people and make your observations, which we believe will be independent. Botswana, as a country, stands ready to receive your comments," Kwape said.

Commonwealth and AU observers arrived in the country last week, in time to monitor the advance election for poll workers, soldiers and police, which took place Saturday.