Come on Kgathi, tell us about BDP's shady fundings!

Staff Writer | Friday February 14, 2014 16:18

Last year, our Parliament, dominated by conservative Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) rightly adopted a motion by BCP's Okavango MP, Bagalatia Arone, calling for the political party funding by the state. For many years the BDP has been resistant to funding of political parties by the taxpayer.  We are still awaiting the implementation of this law. While we should be hopeful that we could reach October with the law in place, reality and history is not so generous. Kgathis's party picks and chooses the urgency in speed in which it implements parliamentary motions.

There is reason for this disinterest. BDP has not been short of funding, at least not at the same level as opposition parties. It has enjoyed greasing of hands from multi national corporations, notably, De Beers. Yes, De beers; the company that co-runs the economy of Botswana. The company continues to enjoy exclusive and domineering arrangement in the mining industry in this country. This is the company that is yet to refute allegations of some slush fund, whose benefactors include, possibly among others, the former president, Sir Ketumile Masire. 

Kgathi must display the same livid temperament in demanding that BDP explain what it has sold our country for, if at all external funding amounts to selling a country. We are not only referring to above board, transparent support similar to the one referred to here but sneaky and shady deals that only surfaces with a little of turbulence in the water. So, while we await BCP's disclosure we trust that Kgathi's party would do likewise. Political parties in Botswana, the BDP included, are benefiting from the funds of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy through their sister parties in Britain. The BDP is accessing those funds through its relationship with the Conservative Party, the BCP through Labour Party and the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) through its connections with its sister party the Liberal Democrats. Apparently, BNF has also in the past materially benefited from African National Congress of South Africa.

The objectives of these funds, in particular in relation to the British connection, are not clandestine but target the youth and women training. By stating that the Labour Party should extend its funding to the entire opposition, Kgathi is being childish. He must ask De Beers to also spread its funding to other parties.

 We are alive to the fact that his party bullied the Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) to stop its initiative to extend financial help to all parties contesting the general elections. This is despite the fact that proportionally the BDP gained more from the KBL scheme. Instead of gerrymandering, the BDP should implement public political funding before the elections in October this year. If that does not happen, the likes of Kgathi should be denied the vote because they belong in the Jurassic Park.

                                             Today's thought

'It is important to say that public servants ought to be aware that they should be more upright and transparent in so far as the use of public funds is concerned.'

 

                                                        - Jacob Zuma