Boko: To ensure fair elections, Madibelatlhopho here to stay
The leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change Duma Boko says the UDC is training people to be equipped with knowledge of what is expected during national elections to ensure that they can supervise fair election in the 2024 general elections.
Boko has vowed that the 2024 elections will not be rigged by the ruling party again. He said that people should defend their vote with their life as it is their ticket to a better life. He believes that every patriotic individual should take it upon themselves to defend the integrity of every election.
This is because the responsibility is on the shoulders of the people to ensure that the next elections are fair, he states. He further warns that if there are any attempts of rigging in the next election, there will be chaos and strive as people are tired and they have been burdened by the challenges of life for far too long under the rule of the BDP.
According to the UDC president, the UDC will this month embark on nationwide trainings to empower people to understand what the requirements of the Electoral Act are. He notes that the group is made up of ordinary citizens. However, the trainings are currently for members of the UDC and its political party partners, and are based on teachings of the law and its requirements.
On Saturday August 5, the trainings will be held in the North West region of the country and on August 6, in Ghanzi.
In addressing the operations of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS), Boko said the Directorate's powers are governed by the law and they cannot get any powers from any place away from the law.
Further explaining that the core objectives of the DIS, he said they exist to deal with investigating espionage against the nation of Botswana and her people.
Section 5 (2) of the DISS Act states that the Directorate shall not, in the performance of its functions, be influenced by considerations not relevant to such functions and no act shall be performed that could give rise to any reasonable suspicion that the Directorate is concerned in furthering, protecting or undermining the interests of any particular section of the population or of any political party or other organisation in Botswana. It also indicates that DISS is not above the Botswana Police force and or the DCEC.
He said that the police force is the one given the power to investigate crime in the nation and they can conduct arrests under the confines of the law. Therefore, it is a blatant abuse of power for the DIS to arrest people unlawfully channeling a lot of resources to arresting individuals who do not pose any national threat.
He added that the DIS can only arrest people who break the laws written within the DIS Act, if someone breaks the law but that action is not within their Act, they cannot arrest that person. He explained that the DIS should find intelligence and then hand it over to the police.
He appealed to members of the public to know and understand their rights and the law as the norm now is that people are being arrested for illegal things. He said that impersonating a DIS officer, or influencing a DIS officer or trying to sway the actions of a DIS officer are offences under the Act. He noted that the DIS can conduct arrests internally when someone leaks confidential information.
The UDC president explained that the arrests that should be done by the DIS should be done after reasonable suspicion, and those arrested under the Act must be taken to the police who will take the case forward.
According to Boko, the UDC will continue to educate the people of Botswana about the DIS Act so that they may be empowered. He said the UDC has a responsibility to defend the rights of people.
The UDC will document the chronicles of those that have been unlawfully arrested by the DIS to ensure that they work towards healing the trauma brought by the DIS in the nation.