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(TALKZIMBABWE) Zim elections were free, fair and credible: Botswana opposition
This article was written by Our reporter on 11 August, at 10 : 35 AM

The leader of the opposition coalition in Botswana, Duma Boko has dismissed Gaborone’s position on the elections in Zimbabwe, saying they were not as flawed as his home government has been claiming.

Boko told a news conference in Gaborone that it made little or no sense for Botswana to poke holes on Zimbabwe Electoral process when there are glaring irregularities in his country’s electoral system.

Responding to a statement issued by Botswana’s Foreign Affairs Minister that there is need for an audit into the just ended Zimbabwe polls, which handed victory to President Robert Mugabe, Boko said his country should first deal with loopholes inherent in her electoral system before lecturing neighbours about how to improve their own.

“Before rubbing Zimbabwe the wrong way by breaking ranks from other countries in the region, Botswana should at first deal with those problems here by introspecting and improve her electoral system,” he said.

He added: “We can’t be acting like we are perfect. We have problems and we must deal with them before pointing fingers at others”.

Boko also castigated Western countries for what he called their unreasonable criticism of Zimbabwe, saying they should desist from interfering in African matters and let Africans resolve their problems.

Boko who aims to dislodge the ruling Botswana Democratic Party led by Khama from power in the 2014 general elections is the leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), an opposition coalition, comprising the Botswana National Front, the Botswana People’s Party and the Botswana Movement for Democratic Change.

His remarks come days after Botswana called for a review of Zimbabwe votes as the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai called the election “null and void”.

Gaborone’s relations with Harare are set for the worst as President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party accused Botswana of financing the campaign machinery of the MDC. Quoting an unnamed Zanu-PF source, the Herald newpaper said the Botswana government provided material support to the election campaign by the MDC-T led by outgoing PM Tsvangirai.

Accusing President Ian Khama’s government of a “Monkey-See, Monkey-Do approach”, the Zanu-PF sources said Botswana was parroting views by the West over the outcome of Zimbabwe’s elections won by the party.

“Botswana committed three heinous crimes. It pushed in lots of campaign material in support of the MDC-T. We allowed the material to pass our borders because it was an excellent opportunity to build a case against the Botswana government,” one source told the paper.

Khama and his government are yet to react to the allegations.

Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), BOTSWANA, DUMA BOKO

posted by MrK @ 3:13 PM