Ex-leaders to chair sustainable progress meeting


Former Botswana President, Mr Festus Mogae, has stressed integrity in elections, saying only credible elections can legitimize a government and enable the people to exercise their political rights.

Former Botswana President, Mr Festus Mogae

Opening a two-day workshop for electoral stakeholders to review an election observation report in Tanzania, Mr Mogae said for democracy to play its part integrity in elections was crucial.

He said integrity in elections would foster empowerment of women, lead to war against corruption, better service delivery, improvement in governance and an end to civil wars.

“Elections with integrity have never been as important as they are today. Pressure is mounting on democracies, both established and new, to show that they are still relevant to citizens’ concerns and well-being,” he said. Mr Mogae added that without a democratic political process leading to, and beyond, elections there would be neither elections with integrity nor a democratic relationship between citizens and their governments.


He said a country should avoid putting itself in a situation where elections were perceived to be contest in which the winner got all, ranging from political and economic benefits, and the losers did not get anything, in some instances they might even face the threat of prosecution.

Moreover, he said, there were increasing calls for a political system in which the losers in an election were spurred to participate in future polls. “Integrity of elections must be home-grown and locally protected as electoral and political truthfulness are first and foremost the joint responsibility of national leaders, civic groups and political parties,” said Mr Mogae.

During the meeting, which has been organized by the Tanzania Centre for Democracy, he stressed the importance of a professional, independent media which would ensure that elections were conducted with honesty. He said when elections came around, voters needed to be informed of their choices, they needed to know who the candidates were and what they stood for in order for them to make informed choices.

By NELLY MTEMA, Tanzania Daily News

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