Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang, head of the African Union Election Observation Mission to Botswana general elections and former vice president of Gambia, speaks during the release of the preliminary statements in Gaborone, Botswana, Oct. 25, 2019. Continental and regional observer missions to the 2019 Botswana general elections have hailed this year's polls as credible and a fair reflection of the will of the people. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)
GABORONE, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Continental and regional observer missions to the 2019 Botswana general elections have hailed this year's polls as credible and a fair reflection of the will of the people.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and African Union (AU) observers made the observation when briefing the members of the press and other stakeholders during the release of the preliminary statements by the international electoral observer missions in Gaborone on Friday.
Addressing the gathering, Sibusiso Moyo, Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, who is the head of the SADC Electoral Observer Mission, lauded the election process for being transparent.
"The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) managed the elections efficiently and delivered on the establishment of 2,296 polling stations ahead of the elections. These included 36 polling stations outside Botswana, to cater for the diaspora vote in 20 countries in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australia," he said.
He added that the atmosphere on election day was 'orderly, calm and peaceful' at all polling stations and that IEC officers were professional in the execution of their duties.
"The SADC Electoral Observer Mission observed that the pre-election and voting processes of the 2019 general elections were well organized and conducted in a peaceful and free atmosphere, and the environment enabled the voters to express themselves in a transparent manner," Moyo said.
For his part, head of the AU Electoral Observer Mission to the Botswana general elections, former vice president of Gambia, Jallow Fatoumata, also said her team had observed that the electoral process had been credible and fair.
Botswana went to polls on Oct. 23, which process saw the ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party emerging winner after gaining 38 parliamentary seats out of 57, and its leader automatically becoming the president of the country.
