Mmolotsi: Pilane has kidnapped BMD
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BMD Vice President of the Gaolathe led faction, Wynter Mmolotsi says Advocate Sydney Pilane has emerged as the covert third force behind the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD)’s turbulence in the run up to the National Congress in Bobonong.
Pilane is said to have made sure that the mediation meeting held at Bobonong Police Station to map a way forward following the violence that erupted at Matshekge Hill Secondary School bears no fruit, leaving Gaolathe’s faction with no option but to hold a parallel congress at Bobonong Junior Secondary School (JSS).
Addressing the media after delivering a closing speech at their congress at Bobonong JSS, Mmolotsi revealed that while they expected the infamous triple M(Module, Mangole and Mmatli) at the mediation meeting at the police station, instead arrived Sydney Pilane who vehemently pointed out that nothing can be done except for proceeding with the election. While at the meeting, Modubule remained at Matshekge busy with the preparations for the election, making the mediation efforts worthless.
Mmolotsi says it is then that they realised that Pilane was all along the undercover hand secretly twisting the arms of the infamous “triple m” to skew the axis in his favour. Mmolotsi says Pilane is a high profile learned Advocate who however deliberately misinterpreted the constitution to favour his intention to abduct the movement from the people.
Mmolotsi says theirs was a legitimate congress as it involved all the relevant structures and delegates as per the BMD constitution as opposed to the Matshekge congress where the delegates were “hired from Gaborone and divided into groups of twelve as delegates of different branches.” He posits that the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) will recognise them as the legitimate committee as what the other faction did has all the hallmarks of criminality and therefore it will be irrational for Pilane’s led committee to be legitimised. He also pointed out that Pilane cannot possibly lead the BMD as his membership is still contentious, and therefore not a member of the BMD in good standing. Admittedly, Pilane’s membership is one of the items that will make the agenda of the committee when it starts executing its duties.
He says their aim is to open a new office at an affluent area where the vast majority of the BMD can easily have to access to. He further says their immediate action plan is to put into place functional structures of the BMD to ensure the smooth running of the movement in preparation for the 2019 General Election under the UDC. The emphasised the need for expediting the appointment of Disciplinary Committee as they foresee a lot of indiscipline following the congress. He says the Pilane faction members are still members of the BMD as they are still card carrying members of the movement.
Pilane on the other hand has claimed legitimacy, pointing out that the national congress of the BMD is organised under the auspices of the National Executive committee (NEC). He emphasised that the congress was not an opportunity for the suspended members to launch an appeal or negotiate terms of inclusion. Like Mmolotsi, Pilane accused Gaolathe’s faction to have hired delegates in order to stage a separate congress, something that he described as power hungry tactics.
He stated that the mediation meeting with the police did not bear any fruit as the Gaolatlhe faction demanded the appointment of a new electoral board that would verify the voters roll yet the congress is called by the NEC which deals with all the preparations including verifying the voter’s roll. Pilane says that they are open for reconciliation but they are tired of begging Gaolathe’s faction to come to the table for reconciliation. He says the reports that vilifies his candidature for the BMD presidency are ill-advised as the BMD presidency does not belong to any particular individual but open to all members of the movement who express interest in the position.
BMD’s Liberal Constitution
Pilane who is reported to be the architect of the BMD liberal constitution told his followers at Matshekge that when they crafted the constitution, they were wary of centralising executive powers on the president as in the constitution of their former political home, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). He says theirs was carefully fashioned to avoid the fate that befell them at the hands of President Khama at BDP. In hindsight, Pilane says they had to make sure that the president is not too powerful as they knew that they might encounter a similar problem if the presidency falls on the wrong hands. In BMD, Pilane says the more powers are entrusted on the Chairperson and the structures of the party but not the president.
Modubule/Mangole NEC
The triple m faction led by Nehemiah Modubule, Gilbert Mangole and Dr Tlamelo Mmatli elected Advocate Sydney Pilane as President with Dr Mmatli as the Vice President. Modubule and Mangole retained the position of Chairman and Secretary General respectively. Tseleng Botlhole deputises Mangole as Deputy Secretary General. Percy Bakwena was elected Treasurer General deputised by Simon Zingu while Freddy Ramodise and Christine Ramakgobo were elected National Organising Secretary and National Policy Director respectively. Nineteen (19) additional members were also elected. All positions were unopposed. Pilane has also requested the members to go nominate five more additional members who will be women.
When voting commenced, due diligence was not conducted to ensure that the delegates in the hall met a quorum. Pilane said there was no doubt the people on the hall formed a quorum, explaining that the quorum is only confirmed at the beginning of the congress and not when the voting commences.
Gaolathe/Mmolotsi NEC
The Gaolatlhe faction held their separate congress at Bobonong JSS where all suspensions were reversed to allow the expelled leaders to contest for positions in the NEC. The faction also rescind the decision to derecognise the BMD Youth League which the Modublue/Mangole faction had described as an unlawful gathering. It was moved that the election continue despite the absence of the NEC’s chairman and the secretariat. The new electoral board was endorsed with Dr Margaret Nasha being the election officer.
Ndaba Gaolatlhe retained the presidency together with Wynter Mmolotsi as Vice President. Major General Pius Mokgware was elected party chairman while Dr Phenyo Butale bagged the position of Secretary General assisted by Moalosi Sebati as deputy secretary general. The position Treasurer went to Rassie Oarabile Tshenyego with Vasco Tathego as Deputy Treasurer while Kabelo Mahupe and Fedric Kololo were elected policy director and national organiser respectively.
The committee has 15 additional members and additional five women that include Dr Margaret Nasha. These women, Mmolotsi referred to as national appointees. Unlike at Matshekge, Gaolathe’s faction confirmed the numbers of delegates from all relevant structures in the voters roll prior to voting. It had 40 branches with total number of delegates of 415 which included the four members of parliament and 30 councillors.
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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.