28 Jul 2019

 Honour for Batswana (HB) political party on July launched its manifesto in Maun.

The founder of the party, Mr Golesedi Taylor said the political party aimed to bring together all opposition parties to unseat the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)

Mr Taylor said he believed the remaining two months left before the general elections were enough for his party to attain its mission of merging all opposition parties.

He said he had long written to all the opposition leaders last year and was awaiting their response. 

Mr Taylor said once the opposition leaders agreed to form a coalition, HB would carry out its first step which would be a live broadcast of the negotiations by all opposition leaders termed the Preliminary Day.

HB, with its symbol of a human being and a heart, he said aimed at telling the truth therefore advocated for politicians who stand for truth.

Mr Taylor said the current Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) had left out some opposition parties such as the Alliance for Progressive (AP). 

He therefore said with the planned coalition, the HB UDC would ensure all opposition parties are under the umbrella.

He also said HB aimed to ensure that political parties put the interest of the public first, saying even opposition parties currently put their own interest as indicated by fights for positions.

Mr Taylor said if HB’s plan to collaborate with other opposition leaders failed the party would contest the upcoming elections solo, saying he would contest for Maun West Member of Parliament candidacy.

HB, he said aimed for a compromise, adding that  the HB Umbrella would ensure all the constituency in the country are divided by the number of opposition parties.

Regarding key areas in their manifesto, Mr Taylor said the party valued entrepreneurship since business people would create over 300 000 jobs. 

He said agriculture especially breeding pigs was one of their areas of business.

He also said HB would have a database with educational backgrounds for  members of the public for automatic employment once job seekers submit applications online.

On education, he said the party would have accelerated education with entry level of five years old and the leaner expected to complete tertiary education at the age of 15. 

Mr Taylor said the education would be of high quality whereby all students would pass with first class while those who failed would be taken for a boot camp by the Botswana Defense Force.

HB Umbrella, he said would ensure air transport within and international is affordable to Batswana.

Further, he said the party would ensure all tribes are recognised in the country, adding that Botswana would change its name to Authentica (truth) to accommodate all the tribes in the country.

He also said the country would be divided into provinces and that the Dikgosi would be given more power and funding to develop their provinces.

Mr Taylor said their 376 paged manifesto is currently available online at www.hbumbrella.com since the party could not afford to print due to lack of funds. 

He said the manifesto would also be available in audio books and videos once resources permitted.

The guest speaker, Mr Polelo Tebalo said HB was the first party that resonated with their organisation of SAYEMBU which speaks for marginalized groups. Ends