Khama joins Kamal, ready to testify against BDP
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This week former president, Lt Gen Seretse Khama Ian Khama confirmed to WeekendPost that he is ready to testify in court against Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in a landmark case where Kamal Jacobs is challenging President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s legitimacy as party president.
The case was withdrawn last week after Jacobs’s attorneys sought with the court to go and make amendments in their filling affidavits and they have since refiled this week. Former president Khama is expected to testify in court on whether he did resign as BDP president and therefore opening a vacancy to be filled by his then Vice President in Government, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi or not. Masisi has since became the state President but Kamal is only questioning his status as party leader.
When presenting the Khama enjoiner proposal, Kamal Jacobs’ lawyer, Kagisano Tamocha asked court to postpone the matter to allow for consultation with Khama to physically come to court to testify against Masisi and BDP or at least pen an affidavit in support of his application questioning Masisi’s legitimacy as party president.
The former President says his lawyers advised him that indeed it is the BDP who should write the affidavit and provide proof of any written letter if indeed he resigned. He confirmed that failure to do so the court will have to ask him to come and testify, a move which he confirmed that he is prepared to take. “My client is not saying Masisi is not the president of the BDP but that we want clarity as to who is the president, that’s all,” Jacobs’s attorney told WeekendPost outside court.
He continued to state that they only want the court to assist interpret the BDP constitution on the party presidency which is in dispute while adding that they contend that former state President Khama did not resign his position as party president and therefore he still holds the position. “We have never been in contact with Khama to enjoin in the matter but we thought his coming in would assist tell the court with regard to whether he resigned or not because the presidency of Masisi can only come where there is a vacancy. When there is a vacancy, the VP takes over as party president. We believe the last president to be elected party president was and still is Khama at Ave Maria during a party congress in Gaborone,” Tamocha observed.
When Jacobs’ lawyer asked Justice Christopher Gabanagae to postpone the matter to allow for Khama to be enjoined, he briefly and out rightly ruled against the application. “So the refusal to enjoin Khama in the case by the judge Chris Gabanagae then killed everything together,” Tamocha highlighted. He was also worried that the application was objected to by the Judge without giving Khama an opportunity to state whether he would like to be enjoined into the proceedings or not.
According to Jacobs’ lawyer, they also believed that Masisi would either have to withdraw his immunity under section 41 of the country’s constitution to allow for a proper determination of the question brought forth in relation to the presidency of the BDP. He said this bearing in mind that one of their prayers to court were seeking that the sitting of Committees of the Central Committee including the Committee headed by the 4th respondent (Peter Siele) in terms of article 33 of the constitution of the 1st respondent, and the appeals committee is not proper because they have not been appointed by a substantive president, whom they believe it should have been Khama and not Masisi.
“This was one of our strongest points for our case. But the tactic didn’t work for Khama to enjoin as it was prematurely dismissed.” When opposing Jacobs' request for a postponement, BDP lawyer Basimane Bogopa of Bogopa, Manewe, Tobedza and Company said Jacobs had known all along that Khama was integral to his case. And therefore should have made his mind on whether to continue with the case or not and not delay case just to withdraw at last minute.
His partner, Busang Manewe also pointed out that Jacobs and his lawyer did not get proper advice as they have all known that the president of country cannot be sued both in his official and private capacity which include as acting as BDP president per section 41 (1) of the constitution of Botswana. The BDP submitted that the case be dismissed and costs be awarded against Jacobs. However he promised that the case will be re-instituted and will come back stronger and with more solid points.
In the matter BDP was cited as the 1st respondent, 2nd respondent being President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi while the 3rd is Peter Siele in his capacity as BDP Electoral Board chairperson. The 4th respondent is Kingsley Sebele the Appeal’s Board chairperson, and the 5th is the regional chairperson for BDP Southern region; while Thapelo Matsheka the Lobatse parliamentary primary winner is the 6th respondent with Khama enjoined in lately as the 7th respondent.
The election for the BDP parliamentary candidate in Lobatse was contested by Matsheka who garnered 1,376 votes, the incumbent Lobatse legislator Sadique Kebonang only got 1,073 votes while Jacobs amassed only 1,219 votes. Another candidate Lone Bome attained 66 votes, Patrick Kebailele got 218 and Ahmed Shabeer Ishmail only attained 317 votes cast.
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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.