Botswana opposition plans march to Zimbabwean Embassy over election concerns; claims CIO interference

By The Voice & Own Correspondent

Signed by UDC Head of Communications, Moeti Mohwasa, the letter has also alleged, “Because of Zimbabwe’s meddling in 2019 elections, the outcome did not reflect the wish of the people.

The opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has written a letter to put the Zimbabwean Embassy in Gaborone on notice of the party’s planned march to deliver a petition on October 26th, addressing concerns about Zimbabwe’s alleged interference in Botswana’s upcoming general election.

A senior Zimbabwe government official recently denied Harare was interfering with elections in neighbouring countries after similar concerns were expressed by the opposition in Namibia.

Botswana will hold its next parliamentary and local elections on October 30. Incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) are favoured to win. Their main opposition will likely remain Duma Boko of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), who received over a third of the vote in 2019

Meanwhile, in the letter addressed to the Zimbabwean ambassador, the UDC complained about, “The continued involvement of your country’s Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in collaboration with the Directorate of Intelligence Services (DIS) in manipulation of our election outcome.”

The UDC further stated in the same letter that Zimbabwe’s interference in the local election goes beyond state institutions to include collusion between the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and Zanu PF to register non-illegible Zimbabweans to vote in the October 30th general elections.

Signed by UDC Head of Communications, Moeti Mohwasa, the letter has also alleged, “Because of Zimbabwe’s meddling in 2019 elections, the outcome did not reflect the wish of the people.

“As the UDC, we hold that this scenario, if allowed to continue, will not only distort and compromise our democracy, but has its potential to affect our people to people relations,” the party cautioned.

At the time of going to press, the Zimbabwean Embassy had not yet received the letter, which ended with a call for citizens and interested parties to stay updated on developments as the March date approaches.

However, a senior official in the Harare recently denied the election interference allegations without directly referring to the Botswana vote.

Commenting on social media, government spokesman Nick Mangwana said “it is preposterous to allege that Zimbabwe is the country that determines who governs every country in the region.

“We implore political parties in the region to work harder in their efforts to persuade their own electorate to give them the mandate to govern and not to externalise their failures.”

Below is Mangwana comment on X, formerly Twitter:

Zimbabwe works with any government democratically elected into office in the region. As a country, we only participate in regional elections under the ambit of SADC Observance or under the auspices of fraternal parties. We accept that we do provide thought leadership in the… pic.twitter.com/AxQDBv2TBC

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) October 19, 2024