Vote-buying has become endemic in Botswana with moneyed candidates from across the political divide, splashing cash and other gifts in the direction of the voter with reckless abandon. “Back in the days, the voter had self-respect and was honest and dependable. Today, when you go around campaigning, the voter will promise you a vote. However, you will discover when the ballots are counted that not all of the people who promised you a vote meant what they said,” said Albert Mudanga. He is the former Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP) Councillor for White City ward in Francistown from 1984 to 1986, when he joined the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) after some disagreements with the BPP leadership. Mudanga holds the dubious distinction of being the first elected politician in this country to cross the floor. The veteran politician accuses rich vote-buyers for the dishonesty that characterises our politics. In his view, only a couple of voters are honest enough to tell you to your face that their vote is going to someone else and not you. “This does not happen only in the general elections. The tendency is also noticeable in the primary elections. You will only tell with certainty that so and so is not on your side when, on the last day of the election, they avoid you like the plague. They want to be part of the celebration,” said Mudanga, who has since re-joined the BPP. He is contemplating contesting the 2024 general elections on the UDC ticket. Mudanga is of the view that poverty is the major cause of dishonesty among the voters. Another political veteran who has since joined the public service had this to say, “Some voters are not even ashamed to openly demand payment before they consider giving you the vote. Sadly, you have got no way of knowing if they indeed voted you. “One day when campaigning, a group of men who were gathered next to a shebeen, promised me a vote provided I bought them alcohol. Of course I refused and they immediately told me to not expect their support,” he said. According to the veteran politician, the problem is that the people do not know what voting means. “Regrettably the voter does not know what the purpose of voting is in the first place. Political parties and civil society must provide political education. Both voter buying and voter trafficking should be seriously addressed. Both of them are easily used by wealthy candidates and rich parties particularly the ruling party,” he charged. Former Botswana Congress Party (BCP) councillor for Donga, Ben Mpotokwane finds it regrettable that although vote buying has become more widespread with the voters becoming more brazen in their demands for payment in exchange for a vote, it has been part of our politics for a long time. In his view, the ruling party is not doing much about it because the party is more resourced and ready to buy votes willy-nilly. “Even salary reviews are made strategically as a way of buying the votes,” lamented Mpotokwane, whose tenure lasted from 2009 to 2019 when he lost to a BDP candidate. “I saw my loss coming even eight or so months before the elections. The ward encompasses the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Donga barracks.

The army got a salary increment a few months before the elections and that must have influenced the election results. “I lost but I had no choice but to be happy that they had finally got a salary adjustment. That is something the opposition had been advocating for them and the other workers anyway,” Mpotokwane said. On the individual vote-buyers, the former councillor is of the view that poverty is to blame as the poor are more susceptible to vote buying in the form of cash, grocery, alcohol and a plethora of other gifts.

“The rich are quick and adept at taking advantage of the material needs of the destitute voters. The rich are happy to trade cash or food for a vote,” Mpotokwane said. According to him, voters have their own expectations of politicians. “Because of their situation, when they see you as councillor, they ask for help because they know you are better-off because you get money at the end of every month. If you refuse to buy their vote, they consider you arrogant and heartless, they make sure you lose the next elections,” said the BCP activist, who enjoyed working with the community despite the poverty-related challenges. According to experts, voter-buying distorts the character of any democracy whenever it is allowed to become part of the electoral politics of a country. When a voter is paid in whatever way to go and vote in a particular way, the voter has got no right to demand the elected individual to deliver on his or her promises because they were paid in advance. He or she deserves to be ignored which obviously undermines the accountability link between the politician and the vote.