CoA puts final nail in 2019 polls petitions
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Court of Appeal (CoA) has this week put to bed opposition parties’ 2019 general elections rigging claims by dismissing the last case on the matter as appealed by former Councillor for Mosolotshane/Morolane in the Shoshong constituency, Mogalakwe Mogalakwe.
When delivering the judgement this week in Gaborone, the presiding Judge, Justice Lakhvinder Singh Walia, upheld the verdict of the High Court. “The application is dismissed with costs, including costs of Counsel,” he stated.
The Judge further added that: “In the end results, Mogalakwe has failed, in my view, to provide any exceptional circumstances accounting for the delay, nor very strong prospects of success.”
The CoA justified the previous High Court ruling: “The decision of court a quo to dismiss the petition was based on findings of fact and credibility. It is trite that an appellate court will not disturb findings of fact or credibility by a trial court unless such findings are manifestly wrong or result from a misdirection.”
According to Walia, there is no mention whatsoever of violation of any constitutional provision. “I must say at once, that the raising of section 65A of the constitution in the notice of appeal is a disingenuous afterthought,” he lashed out. This comes after another opposition, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) had also appealed the High court verdict that dismissed their contestation of the outcome of the said recent national elections.
Both parties had cited massive irregularities in some constituencies in some parts of the country which contend tilted the election results in favour of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).
Following the matter, the appeal was later launched which was premised on the ground that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was in breach of its constitutional mandate to conduct a free and fair election.
Mogalakwe had lost elections in the Council ward representing the Alliance for Progressives (AP) in which the BDP through Kesebelwang Gaarongwe won the elections with 674 votes slightly ahead of Mogalakwe with 637 while Lucas Mokalake of the UDC trailed behind with only 72 votes.
Having lost with a slim margin, Mogalakwe then forged ahead to launch a protest to the results at High Court, the mater which was then dismissed by three panel of Judges; Omphemetse Motumise, Itumeleng Segopolo and Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe.
Before the court a quo, Mogalakwe had sought court to declare the election held on the 23rd of October 2019 for Mosolotshane/Moralane ward in the Shoshong local government as irregular, null and void and not in compliance with the Electoral Act of Botswana, Cap 02:09. He also wanted court to set aside the election, and direct a re-run of the election within 60 days from the date of the order.
Mogalakwe complained about canvassing for votes at the polling station in which he said he got information from a source he did not disclose, and that a certain Kaudimba made a report to the presiding officer.
The second complaint, the Judge narrated, was about thunderstorms on the day of the voting, which prevented some voters from casting their vote and the election officers not having made adequate arrangements for their protection from the elements.
“The third complaint related to absence of adequate lightning during the voting process, a cadac lamp having failed and cell phones having to be used to provide lighting,” Walia pointed out.
He further said that the fourth complaint was about lack of assistance to illiterate and disabled voters, and this related to inadequate training of electoral officers to assist non-Setswana speakers and deaf/mute voters.
He then observed that, “the next complaint was about the denial by the court of Mogalakwe’s request to call two additional witnesses who had not been listed in the list of witnesses provided to the court.” The Court of Appeal further explained that the other complaints were about the failure to enforce the law against canvassing within 200 metres from the polling station and the breach of section 121 (1) of the Electoral Act.
The case marks the end of the road for opposition in Botswana with regard to their vote rigging claims over the highly contested 2019 General Elections. In the matter, Advocate Patrick Kgoadi represented Mogalakwe while Advocate Otsile Rammidi and Lesego Babitseng stood in for Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and Busang Manewe and Itseng Mothibamele for Kesebelwang Gaarongwe and Lucas Ehutsahetse Mokalake respectively.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.