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Ntuane declared his position last Friday at a panel discussion organised by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Elections Reporting Workshop in Lobatse. “My views are like those of cabinet minister Margaret Nasha which she raised at a panel discussion held at the University of Botswana recently,” said Ntuane. Nasha, who is also Gaborone Central MP, recently told a panel discussion that she supports funding of political parties. She said politicians must account for the funds. Ntuane observed that recently, there were many questions about the source of funding for the BDP. “BDP has been under fire from opposition politicians at political rallies accusing it of having sold land to businesspeople whom they claim continue to fund us. They allege that this emerged from the Land Commission in Gaborone recently,” he said. However, he asserted the BDP is funded by its supporters and well-wishers.
Other panelists at the Lobatse discussion were the president of MELS, Themba Joina and Murray Dipate of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). The two politicians lashed at the BDP government for failing to level the playing field by empowering political parties through state funding. Joina was troubled by the fact that the BDP goes into every election very rich while other parties are bankrupt. “Among the people who fund the BDP are the businesspeople who continue to benefit immensely from the unfair sales of land as exposed by the Land Commission in Gaborone,” said Joina.
The two panelists were in agreement that party funding should be treated as a priority. “At the BCP, it is our wish to reach out to all areas, but we are limited by resources,” lamented Dipate.
The two parties have resolved to raise the issue of funding at the all-party conference scheduled for July 9. Though there are dissenting voices like Ntuane and Nasha, the BDP is still opposed to the notion of state funding of parties. President Festus Mogae recently told a three-man Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP) delegation that funding of political parties is not a priority for his government. He told the delegation that funding would encourage the proliferation of parties possibly out to benefit from the proposed fund.
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