UB SRC elections dogged by allegations of vote rigging
Cynthia Thanda
Does the 13-0-0 work for student governance at UB, that is the question.
This year’s University of Botswana Student Representative Council (SRC) elections are laced with some drama for the UDC Moono-Wa-Baithuti (the reigning cabinet since April 16th, 2021).
Moono Wa Baithuti has fielded two of its members – Prosper Lorato and Leonard Rambo Rambwawasvika – to contest for the position of SRC Presidential. This has divided the student community.
It is alleged that the owner of Notwane club is bankrolling Prosper’s bid for the presidency which explains his trial to get the Moono members to endorse his presidency.
However, Leonard also wants the seat hence the internal power struggle that had some students airing their opinions and concerns on the popular UB SRC (Estudiantes UB Representative Consejo) Facebook page.
Some explained that Prosper had proven his abilities and if need be he should be standing for the presidency while others noted that Moono-Wa-Baithuti must fall as they were dictators who hated criticism and they blocked anyone who was against them.
Despite that, Leonard managed to contest under the UDC ticket while Prosper decided to go at it independently.
The elections, which were supposed to be held on the 13th of May 2022, were surprisingly postponed to the 16th of May 2022. A trusted source who remains anonymous placed the blame for the mess at the door of the electoral committee because the UB management had long approved the release of funds for the SRC elections.
“The Moono-Wa-Baithuti movement through its members have been going around UB slipping ‘papers’ to random students near polling stations with their 13 cabinet members printed on them, which is a clear indication that they want to either influence voter behaviour on election day, which contravenes the UB SRC constitution regarding conduct during election day,” the source said.
He went on to mention that there seems to be a trend in the campus polling stations of election observers from the various political movements being heavily restricted by the “mass-BNF agents” masquerading as CEOs and EOs, which already brings into the question accountability on the whole electoral process.
Although they are not restricting the voters’ will to freely choose their candidates at the polling stations while they remain open, it is to be noted that once they close at 2230hrs after the election there is a high possibility that vote-rigging will take place at the hands of these agents of the Mass-BNF.
“I strongly encourage the student community to rise up and condemn any attempts that are made by these BNF to ensure that they maintain their ‘status quo’, for they know that the students are fully aware of their continued failures over their past two tenures in office,” the anonymous source warned.
