Africa-Press – Botswana. Three more council wards have been added to the City of Francistown following the conclusion of the exercise to demarcate council wards and establish polling stations.
This means Francistown will now have a total of 22 council wards during the 2024 general elections
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Secretary, Mr Jefferson Siamisang said on Wednesday when addressing a special full council meeting in Francistown.
He said the new wards are Selepa in Francistown East, Selolwe and Mophane in Francistown West.
Mr Siamisang informed the councillors that the polling district boundaries as demarcated cannot be changed until after the expiry of 10 years and such changes could only occur after both the demarcation exercise and population census are completed.
Also, Mr Siamisang underscored the importance of a clean roll which he said was the backbone for credible elections.
He therefore, assured the councillors that IEC would do everything within its power to produce credible voters roll during the 2024 general elections.
“There were a lot of errors in the 2019 general elections registration roll, therefore this year, public servants and retired people have been brought on board to supervise the registration process,” he said.
However, he noted that IEC alone could not achieve the feat without the support of stakeholders.
He further asked the Councillors to help publicize the registration of voters which would take place from November 1-30 this year.
He advised people to renew their National Identity cards well in time as renewal slip, drivers licence and passport were not allowed during voting.
The commission’s major concern according to Mr Siamisang is voter trafficking or illegal registration which usually occurs during and after registration.
He advised councillors to fight such practices. He warned that failure to register at one’s principal residence could attract a P5 000 fine.
Majority of the councillors were against the decision to bring on board public servants into the registration team stating that the youth and unemployed people should be considered.
Councillor Mr Modiri Lucas suggested that those registering voters should not be allowed to take the registration books to their homes as this can lead to corrupt dealings.
He said campaigns should be held to encourage more youth to register and vote.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
