18 Jul 2017

Leader of Botswana National Front (BNF), Mr Duma Boko says BNF forms the backbone of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).

He therefore urged party members to demonstrate an inspirational representation to other UDC affiliates.

Delivering a keynote address during the official opening of BNF conference in Kang on Sunday, Mr Boko said BNF constitution was carefully crafted in the manner that would allow democratic ownership and accountability as well as bottom-up engagement of members and their structures.

He said the approach did not only uphold the spirit and observance to the constitution, but also obligated members to take themselves more seriously and treat their responsibilities to the organisation with heightened commitment.

Mr Boko encouraged members to equip and empower themselves with party responsibilities unleashed to all of them to participate meaningfully in the affairs of the organisation.

He also encouraged them to be exemplars of good constitutional and administrative practices by ensuring that they were fully informed and capacitated so that leaders could be in a better position to discharge their duties in a manner that advanced the cause and the mission of BNF.

Further, he called on the central committee to be up to the task of administering the day to day decision-making in the party to make it efficient in the execution of their tasks.

He said they must not lose focus on the immense responsibilities that came with being an integral part of the government in waiting.

He cautioned them that they were approaching what would be clearly the most fiercely contested national elections in 2019.

Therefore he urged be organised and disciplined to lead the change.

Moreover, Mr Boko encouraged them to strive to become the best in whatever area of specialisation their portfolios fall by being fully conversant with the situations at hand and to make well informed decisions as a way of representing the organisation well.

On other issues, Mr Boko insisted on the strict observance of the constitutional imperatives such as the national conference that he said the party considered an important platform in that it determines the progress of the party from reports from different regions.

He urged all members to give those reports the seriousness they deserved to give the lower party structures the chance to participate in shaping the policies and principles of the party.

He condemned the manner in which some party members resorted to writing all sort of malicious statements, some of which were even being directed to BNF leadership in the social networks.

He said the culprits hid behind the fact that there were normally no rules of engagement in the social media space.

He urged members to resort to follow the right channel of communication through their party structures to report their grievances rather than resorting to social media.

Mr Boko called upon party leaders and other members to be vigilant against such individuals as their ploy was to destabilise the party.

Meanwhile, he called for peace and stability among the trade unions so that they would be able to address matters pertaining to workers amicably rather than going in different ways so much that at the end of the day employees grievances are not properly addressed.

In addition, he said any calls for the president of BNF and UDC to impose solution to the ongoing confusions at Botswana Movement for Democratic (BMD) were deceiving.

He noted that those confusions caused a serious concern to all UDC affiliates, but he emphasised that issues brewing in the party could only be solved by its own party leaders as it was guided by their constitution, which stipulates the rights and obligations and sets out how the members should relate within their organisation.

“BMD just like BNF enjoys independence autonomy albeit it belongs to UDC,” he said.

He emphasised that UDC constitution does not impose any parameters on the powers each constituent party enjoys under its constitution and does not vest in the leader any powers of regulating the affairs of each constituent party.

However, he indicated that any constituent party that took the view that its internal challenges merit the intervention of the UDC may move to request such intervention.

“Absent of any such request, UDC would be overstepping its legal powers to do so,” he noted.

Earlier in her welcome remarks, Kgosi Basadi Seipone called for peace and stability in all political parties in the country.

She also encouraged all party members to respect their leaders as much as members were given the same respect for the betterment of strengthening their party structures so that they could be able to lure more supporters.

For her part, BNF chairperson, Ms Abigal Mogalakwe called for solidarity among opposition parties so that they would be able to unseat Botswana Democratic Party in 2019.

She also shared the sentiments with Mr Boko regarding the ongoing factions at BMD that she said posed a serious threat to their UDC project to attain power in 2019 and urged all those affected to find means of how to assist their affiliates in order to reach consensus. BOPA