On Sunday, 11th August 2024, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) Elections Appeals Committee ordered the association’s Electoral Commission to include Tariq Babitseng in the National Executive Committee (NEC) candidates list.
Among others, the Elections Appeals Committee also ‘prohibited’ the Electoral Committee ‘from subjecting the appellant (Babitseng)’s nomination application to further examinations. It also ordered that ‘the list of candidates published on 5th August 2024,’ be ‘accordingly amended and republished within three (3) days of this order.’
The ruling is expected to, once and for all, shut down all the noise on who should or should not stand for elections. For Babitseng, as with other candidates who have suffered the ignominy of unfair vetting, the ruling means one thing, ‘the campaign for BFA office can now begin!’
“For us, the ruling means we can now start campaigning rigorously. Our intention is to start immediately as we have to visit all the 17 BFA regions to canvass for votes,” an insider within the Babitseng campaign explained. “We have to make each day count.”
With exactly a month to go before the BFA elective General Assembly, the insider said time will be of essence as the campaign is starting late. “With the uncertainty that has been surrounding Babitseng’s candidacy, we could not really start our campaigns.”
“Of course, we have been talking to potential voters on the sidelines. However, because we were uncertain over our candidature, we could not go all out. We could not answer when voters asked if we were certain we will be in the list of candidates,” the campaign insider said.
For Babitseng’s campaign team, the worry is that ‘the unnecessary cases’ that have been taking place have consumed resources. “These cases were unnecessary. They took a lot of resources which we could have directed to our campaigns. This is even worse for us as we do not have sponsors to help us run our campaigns.”
While keen to start campaigns, there is also an apprehension. Given the unpredictability of the BFA Electoral Committee, they are not yet sure they are on the clear. “You never know what these people will do. For now, we are just waiting to see if Babitseng’s name will be on the candidates’ list which will be published in a couple of days. Everything will be clearer then,” the Babitseng team insider said.
