25 Jul 2019

 Public officers, who will be recruited to conduct the upcoming general election, should ensure the election is credible. 

The call was made by the South East District Deputy District Commissioner, Mr Richard Boitshwarelo , July 24, during a meeting on the recruitment of the elections officers in Ramotswa. 

He said people who should be entrusted with conducting the election process should be credible and of good character. 

 Mr Boitshwarelo said the country cannot afford to lose its historical records of conducting credible elections hence the need to protect such a record. 

 Therefore, he said it was soothing that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had emphasised that public officers who had registered for the general election stand a better chance of being engaged. 

 He said election is an important occasion for the country, hence the public officers should lead by example in taking part. 

 Mr Boitshwarelo said public officers who had not registered to vote, were signifying that they have little regard for the general election. 

Still on preparations for the election, he said information dissemination to district leadership had been unsatisfactory. 

 He said the IEC had centralised registration transfers to Ramotswa, hence people in Tlokweng have to travel for such an exercise, which is an inconvenience. 

 South East principal elections Officer Ms Pelonomi Selemogwe-Kwaramba stated that the commission had centralised transfers, but noted that they were engaging the IEC head office with regard to the Tlokweng constituency. 

 Ms Selemogwe-Kwaramba also added that the commission had started the process of recruiting election officers, but noted that for the upcoming general election, the recruitment will be done by a recruitment board in the district. 

  She stated that although they will need more officers who will be engaged during election, proper screening was critical to ensure those engaged are credible. 

She said the constituency should plan ahead and ensure that all necessities such as transport and recruitment are done on time. ENDS