Dow moves against voter-traffickers
Lerato Maleke | Monday December 1, 2014 12:32
Dow made her proposal for the introduction of a vetting process to confirm eligibility to vote in any particular district when she made her contribution last week to President Ian Khama’s State of the Nation address. She said the key elements of this reform would be the introduction of documentary proof of residence and that in the event of no documentary proof being available, an affidavit of residence and eligibility to vote in the district should be produced.
To facilitate this, she said registration officers could serve as commissioners of oath, in terms of The Commissioners of Oaths Act, during election registration.
Regarding legislative reforms and unclaimed Guardian Fund monies, she argued that every year, millions of Pula in the Guardian Fund remained unclaimed and she proposed that a law be introduced that would allow for the transfer of such funds to recognised child-support organisations such as Child Line, Stepping Stones and SOS.
On legislative reforms regarding dual citizenship, she proposed that Botswana amend its laws to allow for dual citizenship for adults.
“It must be accepted that FDI brings nationals of other countries and some of the investors will set up home in Botswana and raise their children here,” she said.
She argued that sending young students abroad will result in cross-national marriages and that the United Kingdom presents an excellent example of a country that has benefited from allowing dual citizenship. She cited other countries like Kenya, Ghana, The United States of America, and The Netherlands; adding that there is absolutely no governmental benefit to denying dual citizenship to the individuals, their families and the country.
Regarding Tirelo Sechaba, she said that a scheme be introduced to encourage and facilitate young professionals employed in the private sector to offer their skills and expertise to community projects. Examples of such being the respective boot-camp facilitation, mentorship and adopt-a-school projects.
As for access to land and housing, Dow proposed that village/town sprawls be reduced by allowing holders of larger lots to subdivide and sell sections back to the Land Board or to interested individuals.
“In short, adopt plot sub-division as a policy and facilitate it,” she advised. Dow also proposed that towns/village sprawls be reduced by facilitating the construction of institutional/student houses by such institutions as BHC and universities on existing lots. “Instead of carving out large lots to build estates, such estates must be inserted into existing built-up areas,” she said. Dow also proposed the expansion of Ipelegeng assignments to include home-based care of the elderly, the sick and the disabled.