Inside Masisi-Tsogwane VP deal
News
Vice President, Slumber Tsogwane is not the man who will succeed President Mokgweetsi Masisi at the end of his presidency, with the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Chairman planning to retire from active politics just before the 2024 general elections.
Like his successor, Lt Gen Ian Khama — Masisi will have more than two deputies during his term. Khama had Mompati Merafhe and later Ponatshego Kedikilwe before settling for Masisi as his ordained successor. According to sources close to the developments, Masisi’s likely successor will be the one appointed after the 2024 general elections. If the status quo obtains, Masisi will serve as president until 2028.
Since 1980, a sitting president had to alternate their deputies owing to various circumstances. Sir Ketumile Masire had three vice presidents; Lenyeletse Seretse (1980-1983), Peter Mmusi (1983-1992) and Festus Mogae (1992-1998).
Mogae is the only president since Sir Seretse Khama to have had one Vice President during his tenure.
While many were surprised by the decision to appoint Tsogwane as Vice President, impeccable sources revealed that Masisi had long concluded that he will appoint Tsogwane his deputy. Tsogwane, who had throughout his political career been reluctant to take up a post in the party’s central committee, surprised many when he ran for the additional member post at last year’s Tonota Congress and emerged victorious.
Following his appointment as party chairman a few hours after Masisi took oath as president of Botswana; it grew apparent that Tsogwane was Masisi’s chosen one. “Masisi was obviously looking for someone who is loyal, and who wouldn’t want to outshine him. Given their chemistry, Slumber [Tsogwane], was that person,” revealed one member of BDP Central Committee.
WeekendPost further established that Tsogwane, unlike many in the BDP, did not have any ambition for the presidency, let alone the vice presidency, with his initial plan having been to retire at the end of his current term. It was Masisi who coaxed the pint-sized legislator, who is currently the joint longest serving lawmaker in parliament — to stay for another five years. Previously, Bogolo Kenewendo, who has since been appointed to cabinet, was earmarked to replace Tsogwane at Boteti West at the next polls.
WeekendPost has been informed the new Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry will be re-elected as Specially Elected MP next year. The surging of Kenewendo in government structures is credited to Tsogwane, and many have pointed out that it is one of the pointers on the tightness of Tsogwane and Masisi’s relationship.
Masisi’s choice for Tsogwane though unexpected by many democrats, has not caused any uproar chiefly because he is considered a man without controversies. “He is the ideal man for the job at the moment. Not many friends, and also without enemies,” said one influential member of the BDP.
Even the hard to please party veteran Daniel Kwelagobe has given a thumbs up to Masisi’s choice for Vice President in Tsogwane. “He has been in government for a very long time, he knows how government works and he has been a good member of the party,” said Kwelagobe of Tsogwane.
PLAYING IT SAFE IN CABINET APPOINTMENTS
Masisi did not cause uproar in his newly constituted cabinet, the only surprising choice being his decision to drop Edwin Batshu. Batshu, was considered one of the hard working ministers. He also enjoyed goodwill among the democrats.
Batshu joined Sadique Kebonang and Prince Maele — the controversy ensnared MPs who were relegated to the backbench. The public were yearning the dismissal of the duo from cabinet, something which gave Masisi an excuse to leave them out.
Kebonang has been implicated in the latest National Petroleum Fund scandal in which at least P250 million is suspected to have been misappropriated from the fund by the country’s intelligence organ. Meanwhile Maele has twice been placed under the radar of the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) with regards to large sums of money found in his possession.
Masisi kept Nonofo Molefhi in cabinet, and intriguingly appointed him to a more important ministry of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration. Following their battle for chairmanship in Tonota last, a race which was considered a proxy battle for the presidential succession, it was believed that Masisi would drop Molefhi from cabinet.
Other members who were linked to Molefhi’s lobby group, Dorcas Makgato, Philip Makgalemele and Biggie Butale also retained their ministerial posts. Masisi, in another unexpected turn of events also left out Moyo Guma from his new cabinet. While some believe that Guma opted not to be offered the ministerial post, inside sources reveal otherwise.
“They were asked to indicate if they didn’t want to be considered. No one indicated such. After appointees were sworn in, the boss [Masisi] shared with them that everyone to whom he offered had accepted,” revealed a source. “No decliners. It means those not in the line-up were never offered.”
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.