Churches form Parly watch committee
Tefo Pheage | Wednesday February 24, 2016 14:51
According to the immediate past president of BCC, Reverend Mpho Moruakgomo, the church and the civil society have a big role to play in the development of Botswana but are mostly reactionary.
In an interview with Mmegi, Moruakgomo said the church sees it as important that they establish such a desk to create and foster a relationship of communication between the Church and Parliament and have a say on parliamentary issues as and when they happen. “This will mean that the church has a say in policy formulation and enactment of laws through debates and discussions,” he said. Parliamentary desks are usually formulated to promote peace and justice for the masses. Churches, came up with this idea after realising that for good governance, there was need to establish a relationship with Parliament to promote good governance for the common good. There are several roles of the Parliamentary Liaison Desk. One of them is to inform and advocate for the values, concerns and needs of the marginalised as well as serving the common good and facilitate public’s participation in public policy development. This also helps create awareness on the constitution, systems of governance and human rights as well as supports and encourages MPs in the promotion of good governance.
BCC General Secretary, Reverend Simane Mosweu, said the parliamentary desk idea will be established under their governance, peace and security programme which has been tasked with among others, coordinating the general elections. “We are still facing financial challenges as this is a financially stretching exercise, but once everything has been finalised we will start,” he said.
Botswana churches have of late been vocal on emerging national issues. Their voice has been heard on political and socio-economic issues across the country. In some countries, Parliamentary watch desks have been running for some years and have been active and effective. Recently, BCC made comments on the national budget and engaged the government, academia, pastors and various experts. The assistant minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Philip Makgalemele, later urged the churches to do more to influence policy and engage leaders as and when they see the need. Makgalemele said government was ready to debate issues with anyone who brought alternative ideas. The relations between the government and the churches in Botswana have been cordial and there has never been any significant differences since the church entered political debates. Religious analysts encourage the church to be prophetic and offer solutions and not only focus on worshipping.