Khama inaugurated for second term
Oarabile Mosikare | Wednesday October 29, 2014 17:41
Speaking during his inauguration yesterday at the National Assembly, Khama said he would therefore confine himself to confirming what will be their governing priorities as they move Botswana forward.
“These priorities, which were set out in my party’s election manifesto, shall stand as this administration’s collective performance agreement with the nation. They include: job creation; food security, expanded land and housing ownership; access to quality education; economic empowerment and the eradication of poverty,” said Khama.
In carrying out this mandate to deliver on each of these priorities, as well as other programmes, Khama’s administration shall also continue to be guided by their roadmap for achieving a better Botswana as signposted by the ‘5Ds’. “This roadmap can be summarised as our pledge to achieve a dignified life for all Batswana through the delivery of sustainable economic development that is driven by a culture of democratic accountability and rooted in a renewed sense of social discipline.”
He said he would remain mindful of the fact that while some of them have been chosen on temporary terms to exercise political leadership, it is the citizens who at all the times remain their masters.
Meanwhile, Khama’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was on Saturday given another five-year mandate by the voters when it was elected into power.
Of the 57 elected parliamentary seats, the BDP won 37. The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), which contested the elections for the first time, garnered 17 seats while the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) won only three seats.
This means that the vote shared based on preliminary figures, are 46.7% for the BDP, 30.8% for the UDC, 19.5% for the BCP, and 3% for the various independent parliamentary candidates. The BDP’s 46.7% of the vote won it 64.9% of the National Assembly seats.
This is the first time since Botswana gained independence in 1966 from Britain that the BDP garnered less than 50% of the votes in what election observers hailed as free and fair elections.