BDP plans to ambush Tshekedi’s launch
News
A ferocious battle between Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), to win the Serowe West constituency has drove the two parties to stage their massive launches same day next weekend, with the ruling party planning to suspend all their national activities for the launch.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi, will launch Moemedi Dijeng, while BPF through their patron, Ian Khama, will also be unveiling their new catch in Tshekedi Khama. Dijeng replaced Tshekedi as BDP candidate following the latter’s resignation from the party last week. Tshekedi was citing failure for corrective action against BDP Women Wing Chairperson Dorcas Makgato, by the party as the watershed point. He expressed grief at what Makgato said about his late father, hoping the party would have taken action but it was not to be.
Since independence, the constituency has been held by the BDP and TK’s defection to the BPF has sent a chilling warning which suggests that the BDP dominance could be over; reason being he is the younger brother to the area’s paramount chief and the royal family have been strong in most constituencies they contest in. On the other hand, the BDP has also drafted a counter plan to neutralise a possibly high tempo launch by the newly formed party.
With Masisi going to launch Dijeng, party strategists have suggested that in order for the BDP to make a statement, all constituencies should be present at the launch. Though the proposal is yet to be adopted, it looks certain that the party will implement it. Already a star rally that was to be officiated by Masisi in Maun West, on Saturday, this however has been cancelled. “He will only attend Kgosi Tawana’s birthday party in the morning then leave for Serowe afterwards to officiate at the launch,” shared a source within the party, on Thursday afternoon.
Other activities that have been moved to Sunday includes; Francistown West candidate Ignatius Moswaane’s launch by President Masisi and another star rally in Maun East, to be addressed by party Chairman and Vice President Slumber Tsogwane. All these have been moved to Sunday as a gesture of how serious the party intends to redeem itself in the Bangwato capital. This development has been welcomed by many within the party including cabinet ministers who even added that: “I wholly agree with this and my thought is H.E should make a directive that all MP candidates should go there to make sure that we paint Serowe red.”
If suggestion to have all MPs fails, the party is still contemplating to make another statement, “but let’s not halt all activities country-wide, we can send teams from various constituencies to boost the launch,” added another party big-wig. The defection by TK who is the son to the BDP’s founding father, Seretse Khama, has posed a threat to the ruling party, with its Campaign Manager Tebelelo Seretse admitting it will cost them. Part of the reasons BDP wants to “ambush” the BPF launch is to neutralise it and try by all means to demonstrate how strong the BDP is in the area.
All the while, there are some within the party who believe the party should not try to take BPF head on by launching on the same day. “I don’t think it is wise, if it is same day with Tshekedi, it wouldn’t look good,” advised another minister. At the time of going to print, Seretse who is National Campaigns Manager and Serowe overseer, was not available to comment as she was too busy for an interview. She however did confirm that “indeed Masisi will launch Dijeng on the 12th”.
Party Secretary General Mpho Balopi, could not talk to this publication as his mobile phone rang unanswered. In the last elections, Tshekedi won the constituency by 5401. He was followed by UDC’s Rolent Kambule, who managed 948 and Botswana Congress Party’s (BCP) Edwin Seabe garnering only 431.
The relationship between Khama and Dijeng has always been rocky ahead of the party’s primary elections. Khama had wanted Dijeng who was challenging him, to be barred from contesting, saying the latter had contravened the party’s code of conduct. TK went further to drag the party to the courts of law when ‘the party defended Dijeng’s candidacy.’
News
Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
News
Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
News
Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.