SA consultants drill UDC candidates
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As preparations for the October elections continue to intensify by the day, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) this week locked all their 57 parliamentary candidates in a lecture room drilling them on how to be honourable members and how to win the October polls.
The party in its effort to win state power has engaged a South African based Status Reputation Management Consultants (RMC) ahead of October elections. This is the same firm that ensured South African opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters national support grew to 10.79% (this year) from 6.35% in 2014. Moreover it is the same consultancy that propelled DRC’s Felix Tshisekedi to presidency.
Before training the parliamentary candidates, reports from the party say the three UDC constituents party leaders; Duma Boko, Dumelang Saleshando and Motlatsi Molapisi were also tutored in South Africa few weeks back. “At the top was to take them on leadership qualities one has to possess as president. It looked more on Boko who is highly likely to be president of Botswana post October and it was an intensive exercise according to them,” party insider told this publication on Wednesday afternoon.
It is after this engagement with the party politburo that now it was decided that the consultants come to Botswana to train the candidates on a week-long workshop. Costs for this, sources say, clock millions of pula which the UDC president Boko said he has been sourcing from donors across the globe. “We wouldn’t know the exact budget but it should be millions, these consultants are the best their interactions are out of this world,” said one parliamentary candidate who attended the Oasis Motel held workshop.
RMC’s seven consultants also gave the candidates tips on how to win the elections. “These included proper dress code for an MP, how to handle media interviews as a leader and how we should relate with the voters as well as capturing data base of the electorates. And all these are very key in us winning our respective constituencies and we are very glad for the efforts by the party leaders,” added one candidate.
Furthermore sources tell this publication that the consultants’ scope of work is not only focused on the candidates but rather the party as a whole. “They are expected to provide political intelligence to the party by way of analysing the qualities of our representative with those we are contending with, and the report will be out before August. This report will give us a picture of how we are likely to perform at the elections. In cases where we are likely to lose, they will advise the party on what needs to be done to curb that,” said the UDC insider on the corridors of Oasis Motel.
RMC was first contacted by UDC president Boko to assist him with his individual campaigns, now it has swelled over to the whole party. It is said in their interactions with the candidates they also drew a budget for individual constituencies. “In a one on one session you had to demonstrate how much you will need for the campaigns as well as the materials like t-shirts and even a car if there is a need. Then they will cross examine if at all you need that and advise the party accordingly,” added another party member.
For now the whole UDC elections budget is still a party secret and the party leaders, specifically Boko, continue to run around mobilizing funds that will be given to various constituencies. The party has after engaging the consultancy in the past told to start their candidates launch later than the BDP, precisely in July and the UDC is following the script to the letter. Next week the party will launch Gaborone Bonnington South candidate, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa.
The UDC for now through Boko, will continue with their last elections formula of sourcing funds from international community to assist wresting the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) out of power. Already the party has agreed on centralising sourcing of fund with Boko as the face of the project.
The party says should they get assistance from the local businessmen it will compromise their governance post October should they win. “There are conditions from them, which is why even the BDP is failing to crack the whip because they were assisted by the same. And as the UDC we want to sanitize this country after October so we want to do so freely. We want to get rid of corruption and we don’t want to be compromised in situations when we ask someone to account for his wealth, No,” Boko reiterated in a press briefing held at BCP offices this week.
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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.
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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
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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.