Moalosi’s courage keeps her in politics
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday March 27, 2023 06:00
Moalosi says she was motivated by her own circumstances as a young woman to join politics. She joined opposition politics in 2010 and became very active ever since. For her, she joined politics so that she could be a vessel for what is good for the nation. She was a member of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and later after the split, she became part of the founders of Alliance for Progressives (AP), which she is still active in. Moalosi believes it is important, for both men and women to take part in politics and advocate for what it is right especially looking at the needs of society. “Politics plays a major role in our lives and therefore, I plead with the community to take part in voting for it is important. If one does not vote, he/she may know that others will take decisions on their behalf. Batswana are like a big family and they are not divided as many may think or perceive. We may differ politically but we relate a lot and at times we even joke about those small differences. For us, it is about the principle or what one believes in. We are not enemies,” she said.
Since joining politics, Moalosi said she has been very influential to both men and women as she managed to change their level of thinking and made them see politics differently. In addition, she said some of the people that she influenced are now active in politics and take a role in voting. On the issue of low women representation, Moalosi admitted that women numbers in politics but they do fail to use them. Slowly some women have started to see things differently and advocate for other women, "but yes, we have a long way to go for us to hold big positions politically," she said. She added that most of the time, women foster their party interests and what’s there for them than the interests of their children and the country.
Moreover, she said partisan politics is what divides women in the country. Moalosi admitted that the situation of male domination applies across all parties since it's also there even in opposition parties. She added: “Our challenge in the opposition is that women do not have resources, unlike men. Even if opposition parties may try to improve the numbers of women representation, at the general election, those that we compete with especially from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) will have more resources than us. We don’t have resources that can enable us to fully articulate our vision to the people.” She said if she could have an opportunity to be voted or to contest in the 2024 General Election, some of the things that she will advocate for is women to fully participate in social movements as foundation leadership. Moalosi revealed that the only way for women to find validation in politics is when they start their activism from civil society organisations that advocate or promote social justice. In 2010, Moalosi was an interim BMD youth league member and was also an additional member of the BMD Women’s League. At AP, she is a member of the communication sub-committee and she also contested for a council seat at government ward in the 2019 General Election and lost.