31 Oct 2019

The 2019 general election results have shocked the opposition Botswana Patriotic Party (BPF).

This was revealed by party leader Mr Biggie Butale in a press briefing in Gaborone on Wednesday afternoon.

The BPF leader explained that the results of the just ended national polls had given his party reasonable suspicion of possible election rigging and fraud.

Mr Butale said they had gathered preliminary evidence and after sufficient confirmation had been prepared, they would then approach the courts of law to petition the results.

“As opposition we will approach the courts, I can assure you.

We have been given 30 days to approach the courts,” he added.

Mr Butale said the BPF had hoped for turnover of government in the history of Botswana, but their dream was deferred.

He said the party acknowledged the bravery of its compatriots who put their lives on the line to serve their movement.

“Swimming against the tide amidst resource constraints and managing to win three parliamentary seats and 30 council seats is a remarkable feat.

We’ve taken the central District from the ruling party and our strategic alliance with the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) was calculated to bring about change of government, but we were let down by results from the south of the country,” he said.

Mr Butale said results from areas such as Moshupa/Manyana and Gaborone region constituencies had unconvincing explanation as to how those margins were achieved.

He said anything hidden, good or bad, would eventually come out.

“BPF and others will fight tooth and nail to find the truth.

Those who won under dubious circumstances will have to relinquish their victories.

But if our evidence is insufficient we will congratulate them for winning fairly,” he said.

Mr Butale said his party advocated for political party funding in order to level the political playing field.

He said the national intelligence agency, DISS, was involved in the elections and was not hiding its ‘unfair’ participation.

He said this throttled his party’s fundraising activities and campaign.

For his part, the party’s legal secretary Mr Kagisano Tamocha agreed that the election results margins were ridiculous in some areas, which were opposition parties’ traditional strongholds.

He said they received reports of voting irregularities and they had evidence to submit during petition.

Mr Tamocha said the alleged north/south tribal divide was bad for democracy.

The BPF vice president Ms Caroline Lesang said the political ground in Botswana was not level.

She expressed hope that the evidence being gathered would prove them right. ENDS