Moupo U-Turns On Civil Service Militarisation

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Monday October 12, 2009 00:00

Addressing a political rally at Gaborone's Notwane grounds on Saturday, Moupo changed his tone as he slammed the 'appointment of military men to strategic positions in the civil service'.  He said in a democratic set up, 'you cannot appoint soldiers to posts that should be done by civilian professionals'. Moupo said soldiers have been posted to government departments like the Central Transport Organisation (CTO) and a police officer at the Botswana Television (Btv). 

The BNF leader expressed concern that the appointment of soldiers to civilian posts is putting Botswana's democracy under threat. He said Batswana would be doing themselves a great injustice if they allowed President Ian Khama to remain in power for another five years.  He charged that under Khama, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has no respect for democracy. He told the rally that even in the BDP there is no democracy since Khama took over.  To him, this shows that Khama is not a democrat. 

Moupo said there were a number of instances that showed that Khama's government was putting democracy under threat. He said in a democratic set up, 'suspects are not executed before they are prosecuted'. He added that there have been a number of extra-judicial killings.

To his dismay, Moupo said the Vice President Mompati Merafhe is not concerned about the killing of innocent civilians. He said Merafhe even proclaimed that one or two killings would not tarnish the country's image internationally. The BNF leader said since Khama took over, there is no difference between the BDP and the government. He spoke about a recent incident in which Khama's statement about the BDP, was read on government media by the director of Broadcasting Services.

He urged Batswana to vote for the BNF in order to save democracy. He called on every patriot to stand up and be counted.  Commenting on other issues, Moupo said the BDP has failed to use diamonds to develop Batswana. He said the BNF has always maintained that one way to diversify the economy was to process diamonds locally. However, he said, the BDP government rejected their proposal initially. 

'We never believed that this country could be developed by foreign investors,' he said. He added that Botswana is competing for foreign direct investments (FDIs) with other countries. He said it is the government's responsibility to develop the country and not to rely on external investors. 

Moupo pointed out that there is no country which could be independent for so long and yet about half of its population does not enjoy the fruits of independence. 

His party, he said, has many alternative policies. The opposition leader also called for the introduction of irrigated farming. A BNF council candidate in Gaborone West North, Rhodah Sekgororoane, recalled that since 1969, the BNF came out with a manifesto to nullify policies that discriminate against women. She said the BNF is intending to empower women. She told the rally that the party is even looking at establishing a women's bank when it takes over power. Sekgororoane said when the BNF is in power, all women will be free to associate with organisations of their choice. She lambasted the BDP government for failing to assist women in the informal sector. She said government even demolished the structures belonging to women in the informal sectors.

Sekgororoane said information from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) shows that over 50 percent of registered voters are women. She appealed to women to vote for the BNF because it is the only party that will look after their interests. 

The BNF candidate for Village ward Kagiso Ntime took the government to task for denying the civil servants conducting the elections, their franchise. As a result, more than 10,000 public officers supervising elections might be unable to vote. 

Ntime said this might be a deliberate move to deny the civil servants a chance to vote because the government has not improved their conditions of service.He said it is feared that they were going to vote for the opposition.He feels that the decision will ultimately disadvantage all the opposition parties.He said even young people who will be writing their examinations will not be able to vote.He said government has realised that youth are disgruntled with the BDP.Ntime said the move to deny people a chance to vote is not consistent with a democratic system.He said they are going to stage a demonstration against the decision to deny other Batswana their franchise.He threatened that the BNF would also write to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to express concern that the elections were not free and fair.