Lukewarm reception to BDP funeral scheme

Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday February 4, 2014 15:40

 

There were many empty chairs inside the big white tent at the event that was attended by party big wigs such as secretary general Mpho Balopi, treasurer Satar Dada, his deputy Thapelo Olopeng and former chairpersons Samson Guma Moyo and Daniel Kwelagobe.

This was probably among the worst attendance for a BDP event in the city.

In fact some pictures of empty BDP tents were paraded in the social media on Sunday morning by some opposition followers who dismissed the launch as a flop. 

Even the party’s Francistown regional leader Ford Moiteela was not impressed.

“The turnout was very disappointing. It is not what we anticipated for such a historic occasion. However, several factors contributed to the low turnout.

“There were heavy rains in the city and most parts of the north of the country prior to the event, which is why I believe the event flopped in terms of attracting spectators,” said Moiteela yesterday.

He said members from the south who were to attend the event had to cancel following the flooding of the Serule bridge.

The event, which was to have been held from around noon, also started nearly two hours late because the morning rains delayed the preparations for the launch.  

Meanwhile, in his keynote address at the launch, Dada said that the BDP came up with the multi-care scheme following the realisation that many party members still struggle to bury their loved ones.

“While it is common belief in politics that parties do not really care about their members beyond vote, at the BDP we continue to be different and lead by example as we have done with the multi-care scheme,” he said.

To join the scheme, a member has to part with P50 monthly fee, of which P20 goes to the BDP coffers.  Explaining the scheme, Olopeng, who is also the chairman of the finance and investment committee, said the intention is to recruit 2,000 members in each of its regions around the country.

“If each region can contribute 2,000 members to the scheme then we will have over 100,000 for the scheme and with such numbers the initiative can thrive.

“In six months we are aiming to have attracted 80,000 members for the scheme,” he said.

He warned that if members did not take part in the scheme it would fail, as it needs numbers to thrive.

At the launch Olopeng also announced that Dada donated a new car to the party. The car whose make was not revealed will be used in a raffle in which a winner will be picked from the first 20,000 to register for the scheme.

“Through the car Dada wants to encourage members to register themselves with the scheme,” Olopeng said.

Olopeng further explained that members are allowed to register family members. There is no age limit for those who want to join the scheme.

Also, he said the premium holder can adopt a non-relative to benefit.

Sureway Insurance Brokers and Botswana Life Insurance underwrite the funeral scheme.

Partisan funeral schemes seem to be taking root as the general elections approach. Several politicians, among them BDP Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonota North Fidelis Molao and MP for Francistown South Wynter Mmolotsi of the Botswana Movement for Democracy recently launched schemes in their constituencies.