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=SECOND SUPPLEMENTARY VOTER REGISTRATION TO BE CONDUCTED= By Basetsana Magapa

Botswana has held ten democratic elections since she gained independence in 1966.For all these elections, 2014 is the only year which will carry out a third supplementary voter registration. It will be conducted from May 1st to the 18th. Registration in Botswana is carried out in stages. The first one is the general voter registration which is conducted in all polling stations over a specific period .Then later follows the supplementary voter registration which is conducted to give those who did not  get an opportunity to register during general registration to do so. The 2014 general election s registration was conducted last year October from the 4th to the 27th .From a population of 1.2 million citizens eligible to vote only 478.148 registered. Tshepo Maotsela (34) an accountant, said she did not register to vote because she already knows the outcome of the elections before they even start. While Unabatsho Peter a Broadcasting and Journalism student said he had registered because a campaign manager took him to the polling station and asked him to register. The second supplementary registration was carried out from 21 March to the 26th .The number of people registered shocked the IEC, not even close to 80% of the IEC target was met which led them to suggest the third supplementary. After registration IEC list the voters name in the voters roll then the roll is made available for inspection by the public. The general voter’s rolls are made available to the public for 42 days while supplementary voters roll is inspected for 21 days. Within those days voters are given an opportunity to object. After the given time has elapsed the rolls are then certified. A person may be rejected from registration if they do not reside in the place they want to register in or he/ she is not the person they claim to be. Other than the well known like age and invalid omang card.

=SINGLE VOTE COUNTS= By Basetsana Magapa

Most Batswana did not register to vote because they think their votes do not count especially the youth. Media had sent more information trying to encourage citizens to exercise their constitutional right to register and vote during the upcoming general elections. Information dissemination is done through stakeholder’s workshop and kgotla meetings but still it seems like Batswana cannot understand it. Bogadi Motshegwe (27) said she thinks the government of Botswana should include election education in school syllabus from primary level until tertiary as a compulsory subject. That could possibly get Botswana youth interested in politics especially elections. Statistics shows that urban centers are leading in voter apathy despite the fact that urbanites are more literate and enlightened than their counter parts in rural areas. People in urban areas are exposed to more information and education about many things like voter registration. Information in the media is easily accessible in urban area than in rural areas because cities or urban areas are technology advanced. Is it that Batswana are reluctant in acquiring information or they just do not care? It will not be good for Botswana to be governed by a government elected by minority. Batswana feels that the government does not take their concerns into consideration. “For many years we have been voting, we have not seen any change in the way things are been done, “Said Keletleletswe Somolekae,a young person from Serowe. She further mentioned that Tirelo Sechaba was reintroduced but they were never consulted about it until they heard about it on radios. “If this is the case, what is the use of voting?” Somolekae questioned. “I am over 18 years, and I cannot see any reason for me to vote. don’t have time to waste by voting. I have other duties to perform,” said Mojadi Mokibelo. Mokibelo added that they vote for people and after they get in power they forget how they got there and the reason they are in parliament which is to represent people. He further mentioned that politicians go around house to house asking for votes the next thing they treat them like headless chickens.” I don’t see myself voting for the rest of my life,” added Mokibelo. What is the main cause of voter apathy in Botswana? Is it the so called “democracy” exercised in our county? If that is the case who should we blame?

=IEC DEESIGNING WORKSHOPS TARGETING WOMEN AND YOUTH TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS= By Basetsana Magapa Following information given by statistics Botswana women and youth makes large number of Botswana population.However; this is disappointing because these are the same people who have less interest in politics. The youth makes 60% of the Botswana population that shows 0% interest in politics. “We as the youth of Botswana feel that our needs are not being accommodated, That is why we do not participate in activities which are related to elections,” said Neo Ketshabile ,a young person from Mahalapye. Lack of interest in politics leads to lower participation throughout the electoral process and ultimately lower voter turnout. In order to help change this, the IEC is working with political parties and other stakeholders in the hope that collective and creative measures can be taken to incorporate this group into political processes. This was said by Botswana Congress party President Dumelang Shaleshando at Francistown. Another group with whom the IEC is currently working with is “women.” While there are currently more women than men in Botswana (which is also reflected in the number of registered voters), few women are standing for political positions. The IEC is therefore designing workshops targeting women in hopes of increasing women's active participation in standing for political office,  said the public relations officer of IEC Botswana during an interview with Keamogetse Letsholo, Botswana Daily news reporter. If you educate a woman you are educating the nation and youth are the future leaders of tomorrow.

=BATSWANA WORRIES THAT 2014 GENERAL ELECTIONS PREPARATIONS ARE COLD= Preparations for the 2014 general elections are ongoing. However unlike previous elections preparation, Batswana feel this year the hype is very low and there is no vibe. Comparing the 2009 and 2014 elections, some Batswana feel that the Independent Electoral Committee ( IEC )is very slow and is not doing enough to attract people to register to vote. ‘I remember in 2004 there was elections songs playing on different radio stations and even on Botswana television.Do you remember this one,“dithopho ditsile …dithopo ditsile,Batswana re mmogo…re mmogoo.” Said Onana Takatso who sang the election song confidently. Alfred Modongo, a young man in Mogoditswane also accuses IEC of being too slow on its elections campaign. “There are no advertisement campaigns about elections’’, added Modongo. On the other hand, Thero Mokgare said they are worried about this year’s elections as Botswana National Front President (BNF) Duma Boko has unsettled court case while Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has not registered its logo. We are left with five months before the elections month but IEC has not yet done enough in sensitizing Batswana about the upcoming elections.

=RULING PARTY GAVE BIRTH TO OPPOSITION=

The formation of parties which will be participating in the 2014 general elections came about due to the errors of the ruling party. The ruling party, Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was formed in 1966 by the first President of this country Sir Seretse Khama. BDP has never lost any election since 1966 to date. Still in 1966 Kenneth Koma formed Botswana National Front (BNF), it was critical of the BDP for allowing private enterprise. According to a research done by Dr Gloria Somolekae the domination of BDP was broken done in 1994 when the opposition, BNF won 13 seats in Parliament. Dr Somolekae’s research findings showed that Botswana Congress Party was formed after 11 members of Parliament  from BNF  defected .This happened in 1998 under the leadership of Gibson Saleshando.The father to the current President of BCP Dumelang Saleshando. In 2010,Botswana Movement for Democratic (BMD) was formed after Gomolemo Motswaledi had misunderstanding with the President of BDP Ian Khama Seretse Khama.Its congress that elected Motswaledi as a leader was held in 2011. In 2012 BNF and BMD came together to form an umbrella party called Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). Lerato Poletsheweu said she has doubt if this umbrella formation will help opposition to take over from the ruling Party or they will bring more problems in Political parties in Botswana. “If these parties can come together and form one party maybe we can say they stand a good change to take over because they are all from the ruling party”, said Nametso Lesang.