Boko unopposed for BNF presidency
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BNF President, Duma Boko
Botswana National Front (BNF) President, Duma Boko is set to be unopposed for presidency at the party’s July congress to be held in Francistown.
The latest circulating lobby lists indicate that Boko has the support of both camps, and will be unchallenged for the second time since being elected in 2010. But his deputy Same Bathobakae does not command the same gravitas; she must fight off a determined hopeful in Dr Rev Prince Dibeela, the former Parliamentary candidate for Molabowabojang/Mmathethe.
The two lobby groups are said to be headed by the long serving BNF Publicity Secretary, Moeti Mohwasa and Shaun Nthaile who is an incumbent Member of Parliament.
Mohwasa’s lobby list is predominately made up of serving members of the central committee while Nthaile’s team is predominantly made of those who are hoping to make it for the first time into the central committee.
Mohwasa’s lobby list supports Bathobakae for Vice President while Nthaile’s lobbyist is rooting for Dr Rev Dibeela as the party’s number two.
Bathobakae first became BNF Vice President in 2012 following the resignation of Isaac Mabiletsa from the same position. Mabiletsa joined another opposition party, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
In 2013 Bathobake defeated Dr Elmon Tafa to defend her position. She became the first female from opposition ranks to win a Parliamentary seat in a general election, and the second female to win Parliamentary seat after Habaudi Hubona won a 2013 by-election in Francistown.
Meanwhile, Dr Dibeela is credited for playing an instrumental role in the opposition cooperation talks which led to the formation of the UDC. He is a long time BNF member. Dr Dibeela has been one of the civic leaders involved in facilitating the cooperation of opposition parties since 2001. He was a member of the Committee for the Strengthening of Democracy which sought to bring unity to opposition parties.
In this role he acted as one of the facilitators of the PACT, he also worked closely with Cde Moupo, Cde Mpho and Cde Lepetu Setshwaelo, Cde Bernard Balikani as Mediator in cases where the PACT arrangement was faltering. As a recognized political player he was regularly invited as speaker to different political events. Dr Dibeela and Mr Mpotokwane were also co-conveners of the talks of Presidents in 2006, which collapsed after a short spell.
Dr Dibeela became Synod Secretary of the UCCSA at a very young age. He rose in the leadership of the Church and worked as a Mission Consultant in Leicester, England, served as UCCSA General Secretary for 8 years based in Johannesburg until 2013 overseeing mission work in 5 countries.
During that time he also served as a Moderator (President) of the Council for World Mission, a global organization of 15 million Congregational Christians across the world. In this role he was overseeing mission work of Congregational Churches in Africa, the Caribbean, East and South Asia, Europe and the Pacific. He is well respected in religious circles internationally including in the World Council of Churches.
KESUPILE WILL NOT DEFEND BNF CHAIRMANSHIP
Several candidates are lining up to take up the chairmanship position, currently held by Abram Kesupile. The Kanye South MP has indicated intention not to defend his seat.
BNF Secretary General, Tapiso Kgosikoma, who was elected at the 2013 congress will not be seeking re-election for the position but has shown interest in contesting for the vacant chairmanship position.
Former Gaborone City Council Mayor, Harry Mothei has also launched his bid for the position of party chairman. Other candidates for the position of chairman include; former BNF 2009 Parliamentary candidate for Gaborone West South (now Gaborone Bonnington South) Moses Bantsi, Kgagamatso Kebiditswe, and Abigail Mogalakwe.
Long serving member of the central committee and party spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa intends to challenge for the position of the Secretary General where he is expected to lock horns with Jwaneng/Mabutsane MP Shaun Ntlhaile.
The position of the Treasurer has not attracted many contestants with MP for Ghanzi North, Noah Salakae being the only candidate so far. Incumbent Treasurer Aubrey Lesaso has indicated his decision not to contest for the position again.
The position of the Deputy Secretary General will see a contest between Tona Mooketsi and incumbent, Shadikoo Shampoo.
Two candidates, Benjamin Kelepang and former unionist Justin Hunyepa have expressed interest to replace Mohwasa as party spokesperson. Hunyepa is currently UDC’s Labour Secretary.
Party ideologist Dr Elmon Tafa, who challenged for the position of Vice President at the last congress will now contest for Secretary for Political Education. Tafa has previously held the position of Secretary for Political Education.
The BNF Youth League which also goes for an elective congress in March is polarised along the two main lobby groups. This publication has established that the Richard Khumoekae team supports the lobby list lead by Nthaile while Kago Mokotedi’s team supports a team led by Mohwasa.
However both teams support Boko for Presidency. Boko who assumed the reins in 2010 has been credited with reviving the BNF.
Boko ascended to the party presidency after beating former party youth league President Gabriel Kanjabanga. Before the congress, the duo fought a protracted court battle, with Kanjabanga challenging Boko’s membership and his eligibility to contest the elections. The High Court however ruled in Boko’s favour.
Boko was again elected unopposed at the Gantsi 2013 Congress, despite efforts by a youthful Poloko Monang to put his name forward albeit failing to garner support for nomination from the regions.
The Gaborone Bonnington North legislator has also been helped by what is widely perceived as much improved electoral success, after he helped to co-found Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) which garnered a historic 17 seats in Parliament in the last general elections.
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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.