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'Zim elections were neither free nor fair,' says Botswana's Ian Khama
26 Jan 2014 at 08:20hrs | Views
Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama says his country will not participate in future Sadc election observer missions as he claims that there were irregularities in Zimbabwe's polls last year.
In an interview aired on BTV last Sunday, Khama announced that his country will no longer participate in any Sadc election observer missions as the regional bloc appears to have let the country "off the hook".
Khama said he was convinced that the Zimbabwe elections, which saw Zanu-PF gallop to a massive victory, were neither free nor fair.
"I want to correct the word fairness . . . the Sadc observer statement said the elections were free and peaceful, they never used the word fair . . . that's why we asked for an audit of the Zimbabwe election," he said.
"In Zim, we sent 80 plus or so observers and almost every one of them said there were irregularities in that election, and there were. I am convinced of it.
"So, the point was just to say that we must fix the problem because if the guidelines were violated and you create that precedent in Zimbabwe, then it means the next election, because Zimbabwe is gonna have elections again, they are likely to repeat the same irregularities. So, do we say Zimbabwe is an exception to the Sadc guidelines?"
Quizzed if he was comfortable with making Botswana the only African country calling for an audit of the Zimbabwean election, Mr Khama replied, "I am very comfortable, I would sleep better at night knowing that I have taken that stance."
He also claimed that Sadc's alleged failure to deal with Zimbabwe would give rise to a situation whereby other countries will flout the bloc's election guidelines before telling it to go hang.
"If we say this year, there are going to be elections in South Africa and Botswana . . . there are one or two other Sadc countries that are going to be holding elections this year . . . if we breach the Sadc guidelines and they then try and point a finger . . . we will say to them, 'So what? You let Zimbabwe off the hook, you have to let us off the hook.' Then where does it end?
"So, we have written to Sadc and the head of the Sadc organ on defence and security and we sent them a dossier of all the irregularities our people picked up. But we have gone on to say until we get a response, we, as Botswana, are not going to participate in any more Sadc observer missions because there is no point going there . . . these observer missions cost money and we are not going to throw money down the drain.
"So, we are making a statement."
He, however, reiterated that he was ready to work with President Mugabe's Government.
"Zimbabwe is a neighbour; we cannot get away from that.
"Despite what has happened, that Government has been recognised and we will do business because it's in our interest, because it's for the benefit of both peoples that we work together," said the Botswana leader, adding that he would have no problems with visiting Harare as well as hosting President Mugabe.
In an interview aired on BTV last Sunday, Khama announced that his country will no longer participate in any Sadc election observer missions as the regional bloc appears to have let the country "off the hook".
Khama said he was convinced that the Zimbabwe elections, which saw Zanu-PF gallop to a massive victory, were neither free nor fair.
"I want to correct the word fairness . . . the Sadc observer statement said the elections were free and peaceful, they never used the word fair . . . that's why we asked for an audit of the Zimbabwe election," he said.
"In Zim, we sent 80 plus or so observers and almost every one of them said there were irregularities in that election, and there were. I am convinced of it.
"So, the point was just to say that we must fix the problem because if the guidelines were violated and you create that precedent in Zimbabwe, then it means the next election, because Zimbabwe is gonna have elections again, they are likely to repeat the same irregularities. So, do we say Zimbabwe is an exception to the Sadc guidelines?"
Quizzed if he was comfortable with making Botswana the only African country calling for an audit of the Zimbabwean election, Mr Khama replied, "I am very comfortable, I would sleep better at night knowing that I have taken that stance."
"If we say this year, there are going to be elections in South Africa and Botswana . . . there are one or two other Sadc countries that are going to be holding elections this year . . . if we breach the Sadc guidelines and they then try and point a finger . . . we will say to them, 'So what? You let Zimbabwe off the hook, you have to let us off the hook.' Then where does it end?
"So, we have written to Sadc and the head of the Sadc organ on defence and security and we sent them a dossier of all the irregularities our people picked up. But we have gone on to say until we get a response, we, as Botswana, are not going to participate in any more Sadc observer missions because there is no point going there . . . these observer missions cost money and we are not going to throw money down the drain.
"So, we are making a statement."
He, however, reiterated that he was ready to work with President Mugabe's Government.
"Zimbabwe is a neighbour; we cannot get away from that.
"Despite what has happened, that Government has been recognised and we will do business because it's in our interest, because it's for the benefit of both peoples that we work together," said the Botswana leader, adding that he would have no problems with visiting Harare as well as hosting President Mugabe.
Source - sundaymail
