BCP launches 10 pledges to 'save Botswana'
Mompati Tlhankane | Tuesday December 19, 2023 07:18
The party revealed this when launching its 10-point plan to save Botswana over weekend. The BCP recently formed an alliance with Botswana Labour Party (BLP), and this past weekend, the party’s members gathered at Maruapula to launch their 10-point agenda.
According to the plan, the BCP aims for a high-wage economy that works for all, bringing back exported jobs, creating 300,000 jobs by 2029, and sustaining a statutory living wage of P4,000 per month.
The party also envisions a society that cares for its most vulnerable members and consequently, it plans to provide an old-age pension of P1,500 per month, a means-tested child support grant of P300 per child, and an unemployment grant of P600 a month.
On the other hand, the BCP calls for universal access to quality relevant education for all, with free and compulsory standard-based preschool, primary, and secondary education. The party also aims to double pass rates for JC and BGCSE, reintroduce school extracurricular activities, invest in the well-being, professional development, and career progression of educators, and provide a 26-day compensation for teachers participating in extracurricular activities. For its fourth point, BCP advocates for access to quality healthcare for all, recommending health checks for everyone every two years and timely access to emergency and specialized healthcare for every Motswana.
The party also wants to progressively convert clinics and hospitals into state-of-the-art 24-hour comprehensive health centres offering both behavioural and physical health services. BCP also calls for "learning or earning" for every youth to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education, and training (NEET).
The party aims to enrol the 170,000 unaccounted-for young people in graduate programs and/or skills training programmes. Amongst other goals, BCP advocates for access to land and decent housing for all, intending to accelerate land serving and reduce the waiting list for land allocation by half.
The party also aims to introduce a credit guarantee scheme for young and low-income people to access decent and affordable housing. BCP's other agendas include effective protection and incentives for primary producers in the agricultural sector, zero tolerance for corruption everywhere and by anyone, and competent, ethical, and accountable leadership and government. BCP states that it will introduce the direct election of the President, who will be accountable to the nation.
BCP president, Dumelang Saleshando, stated at the launch that the main objective of their combined 2024 manifesto with the BLP is to address economic issues. He emphasised that the right to freedom of speech doesn’t mean anything if one is not educated and poor. “We will bring a government that will upgrade the economy and pay Batswana higher wages,” he said.