18 Mar 2015

Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) leader, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe, says Batswana outside the country were willing to start party structures that will ensure continuity and sustainability of the party.

In his keynote address at the BMD national policy assembly over the weekend, he said BMD and the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) had active branches in North America.  Other branches, he said, would in future be formed in South Africa, England, Australia and Canada.

Mr Gaolathe called upon his party members to channel all their energy towards ensuring that BMD and the UDC win the 2019 general elections. He said members of the BMD should not expect to lead Botswana without going through any challenges.

He said since every journey had its own challenges, BMD and the UDC members should not waste time talking but rather complement each other to ensure they overcome the challenges. “I believe instead of making fun of each other’s weaknesses you should give support because an injury to one is an injury to all,” he said.

Mr Gaolathe said members of the parties making up the UDC should respect each other regardless of their social standing and should never stop to learn from others.

Mr Gaolathe, who is also the UDC deputy leader, said since the formation of the UDC, he worked harmoniously with the leader, Mr Duma Boko and allegations that BMD intended to overthrow the Botswana National Front from the presidency were untrue.

On issues pertaining to the youth, he noted that having a number of youth fairly contesting for positions of leadership was good for the party and the country. He, however, said contesting should not be used as an opportunity to insult others and he urged elders to guide the youth instead of disintegrating them.

He said one of his party’s weaknesses was inadequate communication between the leadership and members and he was hopeful that the assembly will help address the weakness. He urged BMD members to raise funds for the party indicating that his party went to the 2014 general elections on a zero financial balance.

He said some of the BMD strategies were to secure 40 constituencies in 2019, achieve organisational and operational robustness and financial soundness and to cultivate credible, knowledgeable and well-rounded leaders at all levels, amongst others.

In his welcome remarks, BMD chairperson, Mr Nehemiah Modubule raised a concern about some party members who attack others in the social media. He urged the members to lodge their grievances through the existing party structures and he said attacking each other through the social media impacted negatively on the image of the party.

Mr Modubule said every BMD member should be a custodian of the party and should protect, defend and nurture it. He urged the youth and women to conduct clean campaigns and desist from character assassination. 

“Leaders are elected based on their capability and not how well they can insult others.” Botswana People’s Party (BPP) president, Mr Motlatsi Molapisi noted that BMD was important in Botswana politics as it played a major role in the formation of the UDC.

He said the UDC parties should continue working towards nurturing it especially that the parties have not yet been phased out.

Mr Molapisi said in 2019 UDC will have even greater challenges because other political parties were continuously looking for loopholes that they can use to reverse the strides it made in the 2014 general elections. He said the UDC MPs should be careful of how they conduct themselves both in and out of parliament as negative conduct can be used against the umbrella.

Mr Molapisi said some people still associate the BMD with the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and it was upon members of the former to dismantle the latter to prove that they are not part of it. ENDS