Khama grills BDP MPs over spoilt votes
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Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) President Lt. Gen. Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama is said to have cast a frustrated face at a party caucus recently following events that unfolded in Parliament when his two new Specially Elected Members of Parliament went through the formal voting process.
Reports indicate that the President was not happy with the actions of some of his Members of Parliament during the voting session. He is said to have interrogated his battalion of party legislators at a party caucus this week over the spoilt votes during the voting of the SEMPs, WeekendPost has learnt.
Parliament was asked to vote for Mephato Reatile and Bogolo Kenewendo as Specially Elected Members of Parliament. The two were brought forward by President Khama as his preferred candidates to fill the two vacant posts that arose following the passing of an amendment that allowed for the increase of Specially Elected Members of Parliament from four to six.
Out of the 48 lawmakers who took part in the duo’s election, four votes cast by BDP members were “spoilt” as all the eleven opposition members’ who present during the voting session had abstained from the vote.
The spoiling of votes by the BDP legislators is said to have irked the party president who was physically present at the caucus that certified his choice of SEMPs last week. Only 33 cast their votes for Reatile while Kenewendo was voted for by 31. Insiders say those who spoilt votes deliberately were communicating their displeasure at the choice of candidates for the two new SEMP posts.
The caucus’ resolution that was reached after copious justifications was that Reatile was a politically charged hard worker while Kenewendo was a world class economist and both would add value to the party.
The BDP president is said to have “aired his concern” over the spoilt votes and told the BDP lawmakers that it was not the right thing to “spoil votes” and added that party members should always respect the decision of the caucus even when they had previously disagreed with such decisions.
“Yes it is true President Khama was concerned about the four BDP MP’s who spoilt their votes on SEMP nomination despite having endorsed both two SEMP nominees at the party caucus,” BDP Chief Whip and Letlhakeng/Lephephe legislator, Liakat Kablay confirmed to Weekend Post on Thursday.
MP Kablay explained that, “the caucus is binding and every decision is a consequence of heated debates amongst colleagues and ultimately the majority takes the order of the day and that’s how they came to a conclusion to endorse the president’s choice.”
This publication has gathered that the President felt embarrassed that some MP’s nonetheless went ahead and defied the party caucus decision. “Some MP’s felt that it will be difficult to trace those 4 outcast party legislators otherwise they would have called for their removal from the party,” Kablay maintained.
Indications suggest that two MPs may have apologised to the president already for contravening the party line. According to the BDP Chief Whip, “all MP’s were cautioned about breaking ranks with president Khama after caucus and they should refrain from frustrating him as a party leader.”
This publication understands that there were some legislators who raised alarm over Reatile’s being returned to parliament- instead proposing the name of party Secretary General, Botsalo Ntuane.
In particular the MP’s wanted to sabotage the inclusion of Reatile on SEMP dispensation as they felt it was unreasonable and uncalled for.
At the said party caucus, Francistown West lawmaker, Ignatious Moswaane and Shashe West legislator, Fidelis Molao were amongst those who did not shy away from breaking ranks with fellow party members and rather suggested Ntuane.
However it is understood that party MP’s turned down their offer on account that the president cannot be opposed on his choice. The general belief among the MPS was that the president might have had his own details in choosing the twosome that would possibly aid the party and consequently government. It is not clear whether the two were amongst the four that went further to spoil their votes in protest of president and by extension caucus’ choice of SEMP.
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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.