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Botswana: Kwelagobe Denies Parliament 'The Whole Truth'
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
20 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Staff Writer
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has released a public statement refuting allegations contained in a statement by the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Daniel Kwelagobe to Parliament on 13 February.
The deputy chairman of IEC, Omphemetse Motumise noted that the minister's statement "regrettably ... contained serious allegations concerning the integrity and conduct of the Commission and the Secretary which were neither true nor correct. The statement was made without first consulting with the commission to verify the true facts".
Motumise says that the IEC had on February 25 brought the incorrectness and inaccuracy of some of the details in the minister's statement to his attention. But "the honourable minister has not responded to date". The IEC had requested that the incorrect and inaccurate details "be expunged from the record of the Parliament proceedings of the 13th February".
In the face of this, the commission was therefore compelled to correct and set the record straight, Motumise noted. The issues involved include the appointment of officers to the commission, insufficient justification for a benchmarking trip, and the IEC secretary's application for leave.
Apparently, in his February 13 parliamentary statement, Kwelagobe had alleged that the IEC secretary, Gabriel Seeletso, had refused to accept the permanent secretary to the president (PSP), Eric Molale's appointment of an officer who had succeeded in an interview in favour of one who had not succeeded.
"The truth of the matter is that in February, the Secretary received a copy of a letter making a lateral redeployment of an officer to the Commission at the level of Director.
"The letter was placed before the Commission which instructed the Secretary to restate its position that it would not welcome any officer transferred to the IEC without prior consultation. The Secretary did exactly that in a letter to the PSP dated 1 March 2007".
Apparently, not satisfied with the IEC position, the seemingly persistent Molale in August 2007, offered to appoint another officer on promotion to the post of the Director of Departmental Management at the IEC secretariat. "The said letter of appointment was also brought to the Commission's attention and a response dated 14th August 2007 from the Commission was sent to the PSP once more reiterating the position of the Commission," Motumise stated in yesterday's statement.
With regard to the benchmarking trip, Molale had apparently queried the insufficiency of the reasons advanced for the trip. He was duly furnished with the justification for the exercise that was to be undertaken by two teams, each with three members. "It was decided to break the team from the Directorate of Public Service Management into two groups of two members each to ensure that they would not all be away at the same time," Motumise said.
Motumise also noted that "in any event, and notwithstanding what is stated above, the Commission takes the view that the PSP does not have the authority to override its decisions". The other altercation between Molale and the IEC was over Seeletso's leave application and the appointment of his deputy in an acting capacity. Molale apparently also nitpicked on this.
Obviously, Molale's interaction with the IEC has never been an easy one. The IEC had accused him of interference on matters supposedly within the area of responsibility of the independent electoral body.
On the other hand, Molale has always laboured under the impression that as a chief executive officer of the public service, he has jurisdiction even over the independent electoral body. This has led some commentators to ask why his jurisdiction then does not extend to bodies such as the University of Botswana.
Justice John Mosojane, who resigned early as chairman of the IEC, though primarily for other personal reasons, had this to say on Molale's interference:
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"It seems to me that Molale is the kind of person who wants to test his power against everybody and often recognises no boundaries. In that, he is dangerous, but that's no reflection on the independence of the IEC. No one before him has done that. He clearly ought to be controlled and guided on how to work with other people".
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