13 Mar 2025

Leader of Opposition, Mr Dumelang Saleshando has appreciated the spirit of consensus that prevails between the ruling and the main opposition in Parliament.
He said the unanimity was necessary to facilitate reforms needed and noted that currently both sides of Parliament shared the same sentiments on the need to do away with first past the post system and try a system that could bring in more women in Parliament.
Mr Saleshando was speaking during a courtesy call by the High Commissioner and United Kingdom Special Representative to SADC, Mr Giles Enticknap in Gaborone on Tuesday.
He said the current Parliament had the lowest female representation since Independence.
“Our neighbours seem to be doing better than us and we need to catch up on some aspects. In a number of scores countries that gained independence after us, rank better. So, we have regressed in some aspect,” he said.
He said the ruling party had set out good targets as it was looking for a 50-50 representation of males and females by 2023, which termed ambitious but doable.
Also, he said one of the things they needed to look into was to propose amendments to Parliament’s standing orders so that the opposition’s shadow cabinet may be official recognised.
He said the concept was well developed in the United Kingdom, saying they hoped to have refined it at the end of five years.
The Leader of Opposition further said both sides of Parliament also agree on the issue of Green Energy, as alluded by the President in his State-of the-Nation-Address and Minister of Finance’s Budget Speech.
Mr Saleshando said he represented a constituency where businesses relied on solar systems than Botswana Power Corporation because it was in the delta.
He said they resorted to generators when solar was not enough, saying the area had set itself apart when it came to embracing the use of solar as part of energy mix.
For his part, Mr Enticknap said Botswana and the United Kingdom had long-standing relations.
He said they were ready to share expertise since they had also been through administration transition.
Also, he said there were some companies willing to invest in Botswana as it had good credit standing and was peaceful.
He said manufacturing sector, mining and tourism were top sectors with tourism holding most opportunities.
 He further said through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, they would strengthen their partnership, as the Prime Minister’s questions were a tool for engaging population in politics.
Mr Enticknap said he would like the UK members of Parliament to visit and appreciate what Botswana Parliament was doing. ENDS