BDP MP Aspirants in scuffle to succeed Masisi
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More contestants are continually expressing interest in filling the shoes of Member of Parliament (MP) for Moshupa/Manyana Mokgweetsi Masisi.
As the country’s Vice President Masisi is expected to step down as MP following his ascension to the presidency in April, as per automatic succession. Masisi who is also the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) chairman will on the 1st of April 2018 succeed President Lt. Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama as his 10 year term prescribed by the constitution elapses. As the date draws nearer, his successors are in the wings.
One of the hopefuls to succeed him, Karabo Gare, seen as Masisi’s blue eyed boy highlighted to this publication exclusively in a recent interview that he was ready to contest, should there be need. This publication quoted him as saying: “I can confirm that should constituents find the need to send me to parliament to represent them at the by election expected soon, I can avail myself. I am more than ready to take up the assignment but only when the VP steps down from the role of the Member of Parliament (MP).”
Gare is not only the aspirant who has “hinted” on his imminent candidature, another contender is Lentswe Mosanako, a former two time councillor at Moshupa East. Speaking to WeekendPost in a separate exclusive interview this week, Mosanako confirmed that: “yes it is true I have high interest and yes I mean really high interest in contesting in Moshupa/Manyana constituency.”
The former BDP Southern Regional Chairman went on to state that it has always been his plans to stand for the MP position in the next General Election. He highlighted that “even if the VP was not stepping down from the MP seat to become the president, I was still going to contest in 2019.”
“I was intending to go and stand against him (Masisi). He has always said anyone can and should feel free to stand against him in party primaries. Whoever qualifies should stand if they so wish. It was not even about the by election,” he asserted.
However Mosanako pointed out that Gare whom he mentioned as a political novice, took him by surprise. “Who thought Gare would stand?” he asked rhetorically.
In terms of whether Gare is a threat, he maintained that, the latter “is a political novice. He is just a normal BDP member. I don’t know him in political circles. He is a new comer. But he qualifies to stand. And I am not in any way implying that he cannot be a crowd puller at the rallies and pull a surprise.” Although Gare is seen as a favourite and more closer to Masisi who may have influence in who succeeds him, Mosanako maintained that the VP should not take sides.
“You see I don’t have any problem with VP Masisi. I support him to be president. He is my leader. But he should not make a mistake that I hear doing rounds in the village. I hear rumours that he may be having a favourite candidate amongst us, being Gare to be specific,” the outspoken ex-Councillor warned.
He maintained that the party chairman should not pronounce on his preferred candidate to succeed him and as a party leader he should instead wait for whoever is elected at the primary elections either Gare, Mosanako or whoever will emerge victorious – and support them.
Trying to be careful on the issues to avoid chances of being vetted out before Primary Elections, he explained that as a former soldier he is more disciplined and to avoid raffling some feathers he emphasised that they should be equally respected as fellow party members.
On Gare’s alleged association with the VP, Mosanako stated that the BDP constitution does not make mention that as candidates you inform anyone, besides the party, to give you a leeway to stand for elections. “It is not binding to inform an incumbent or anyone that I would like to contest,” he said. “Only when the writ of elections is out, that every party member in good standing should be free to throw in their names in the ring signalling their intention to contest and to campaign freely.”
On whether he is not at a disadvantage in the face of reports and strong speculation on the ground that Masisi supports his competitor, Mosanako said it would rather put him (Mosanako) on the advantage. “Yes it’s an advantage,” before adding that “but I do not believe the VP can do that because he is preaching unity. If he does that he will be tearing the constituency apart.”
The BDP activist explained that all the candidates that are contesting in the constituency must know that they should not expect anyone from a high office to endorse them against other opponents. “We do not want leaders who divide us and we must not let elections divide us as well. We must know that whoever will emerge victorious, won due to a free and fair campaign with no any other justification.”
When you stand for elections, Mosanako said electorates must assess you on your own merit and no candidate should therefore campaign on the notion that a predecessor supports them as it brings division in the party and at the end it may be seen as not reflecting the will of the people.
He stated: “it should be fair and square, with integrity and credibility. The losers should not find any excuse like a leader has a preferred candidate, or there were no membership cards given to their followers to vote at the party primaries and the like. Voters roll must be clear, done procedurally and appropriately without bias to registration of names.” Mosanako, who lost the Council Primary Elections in 2013, also said “since am always home, and closer to the community, I hear residents’ concerns about the party, government and their social lives. We must know the problems faced by the constituents.”
Mosanako said he remains cautious that other candidates may enter the race as the day of the by elections draws closer by the day. When quizzed on chances of BDP retaining the seat, he said “in my observation, the Moshupa/Manyana constituency is marginal. There is no party that can claim stronghold.”
So, he added, whoever wins the BDP primary elections must work hard and know that bloodthirsty opponents await them. “It will not be easy to retain the seat; we will have to launch our entire arsenal,” he highlighted. Meanwhile the BDP branch Chairman in Moshupa Manyana constituency Bushi Tshiping, said until the Vice President becomes president in April 1st, making the MP portfolio in the area vacant then the party Central Committee will authorize instigation of campaign.
“Masisi has not bid us farewell yet. He has not yet said we should look for a replacement,” Tshiping said. In the last elections (2014), Masisi triumphed by a convincing 6831 lead against Ngaka Monageng of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) who got 3231 votes while Benny Stegling of Botswana Congress Party (BCP) got 2557 votes.
In 2009 Masisi had again emerged victorious by 6374 votes while BCP attained 1519, the BNF 1219 and an Independent candidate 60 votes while another Independent candidate managed 72 votes. The by election will be held approximately 6 months after Masisi is inaugurated as president – before end of this year.
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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.