Parties demand swift access to P34m
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday March 5, 2024 13:22
All parties were vocal about their immediate need for the funds as campaigns intensified ahead of the general election in October.
Currently, no established model is guiding the distribution of these funds amongst parties. Representatives of different parties voiced their opinions on the matter during lengthy discussions. It was agreed that further deliberations would take place in the next meeting. In a post-conference interview with the media, Botswana Democratic Party secretary-general Kavis Kario expressed the urgent need for the funds. “We dealt with the issue of political party funding, and from the mood and conversations I heard, we are all keen on getting these things started.
We now have to set up the laws to make sure we best manage it,” he stated. Kario emphasised the need for a quick resolution. “We have to do it as soon as possible because there is no point in waiting until August or October. We need to start campaigning like now,” he added. Kario commended the conference as the first since 2019, highlighting that the government promised and delivered. He noted the effectiveness of the meeting. “The way we talked and interacted, the meeting was very effective, and there was general respect, especially that we had representatives who brought divergent views,” he said.
"We agreed on a lot of things amongst them trying to understand how commissioners are appointed." Regarding the distribution of funds, Kario explained that parties will submit their proposed agendas to Office of the President. He clarified that at the moment, the government has a proposal on how the money can be distributed. “As parties, we are to suggest how this fund should be managed and administrated. This is a way of adding our ideas to the ultimate bill which will guide this fund,” Kario said. On the opposition side, Botswana Congress Party (BCP) secretary-general, Goretetse Kekgonegile, representing all opposition parties, expressed that it has been five years and this seems to be a trend for the ruling party to convene such meetings on the eve of a general election.
“We had a lively discussion, but it was all government agenda and did not have ours.
They have promised that we will have our agenda in our next meeting because there is a lot of ground that needs to be covered,” he remarked. Kekgonegile highlighted that political party funding is a first initiative and they need to consider the current political landscape, including coalitions and alliances. He emphasised that alliances and coalitions are the future of politics in Botswana and political party funding must take that into consideration. “We have parties that stood for elections in 2019 and new parties, therefore this is political party funding not a reward for a previous election performance.
There must be a formula that will facilitate the everyday functioning of political party funding,” he further pointed out, adding the need to guard against the mushrooming of political parties while maintaining a careful balance. He stressed the importance of addressing the low participation of women in politics. “There must be a formula that will encourage women's participation in politics categorically and clearly within the party funding model,” he said.