16 Jul 2019

The President, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has urged members of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to work hard to regain constituencies lost to the opposition.

Officially opening the 2019 BDP’s 58^th National Congress on in Mochudi recently, the President said, “We are going to campaign vigorously and emerge victorious in all the 57 constituencies.”

“Fellow democrats, we must focus on a national campaign that reaches out to individuals, families, communities and Batswana through our message of Advancing together towards a more inclusive economy,” stated the President.

He challenged parliamentary and council aspirants to be true ambassadors in leading the party to victory by coming out to sell it through rigorous campaigns and to remain unshaken in what they intent to achieve.

The President therefore urged the congress to also come up with a resolution that would help towards creation of skills fund aimed at retooling graduates for the current job market.

He expressed hope over integration of the BDP’s Campaign Strategy and Manifesto as it had put together the party’s topline messaging. He therefore called for the overhauling and modernisation of the schools’ curriculum to be able to respond to challenges of the industrial revolution. 

On other issues, President Masisi further told democrats that the decision on land use processes had been made flexible to allow changing of ploughing fields (masimo) into business, saying regulations on change of land use had been made less stringent. 

The arrangement as the president highlighted would also allow married couples to independently own land. ”Batswana can now convert their homes to guest houses and offices,” he said. 

The initiative,  he said has the potential to create wealth and employment opportunities for more Batswana.

The president further made emphasis on the need to summon the spirit of hard work that sustained the country in the past. “We must become competitive and productive in order to survive in the new world order,” he said. 

The president pledged to effectively address inefficiencies in the provision of public services like, education, health, water, electricity and infrastructure.

As per the BDP’s Manifesto, he highlighted the proposal to nurture a creative economy to make it a source of economic growth, jobs, innovation as well as trade. “We will create jobs not just based on education but on talent”, indicated president Masisi.

President Masisi assured Bakgatla of plans to see Kgosi Kgafela back home. 

The president also announced the appointment of the Ms Tebelelo Seretse, member of the party’s central committee as the National Campaign Manager, who will be responsible for driving the party messages from the National Strategy, Communication and International Relations Sub Committees to reach out to the general membership. Ends