Boko to source funds for opposition unity
Chakalisa Dube | Friday July 22, 2016 13:31
Boko, who is also the Botswana National Front (BNF) president, laid down the UDC fund raising and resource mobilisation plans at the party’s 16th elective congress here on Saturday.
The UDC, a coalition of BNF, Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and the Botswana People’s Party (BPP), has been of late been engaging the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
Boko said that the UDC would engage various experts for advice on how the party can best win the next general elections.
“In the next few months, the presidency is going to be extremely busy with positioning the UDC internationally in order to unlock the much needed financial and technical support. It is a task that will involve a fair bit of international travel especially for the president,” said Boko who will travel to the Olympic games in Brazil next month where he is due to meet one of the UDC partners he did not name.
Prior to the Brazil trip he will travel to Philadelphia to attend the Democratic National Convention. “I have already done the ground work towards our efforts to win the 2019 general elections but I cannot divulge the details now. We will be prepared more than in the 2014 general elections,” he said.
Boko pleaded with fellow BNF executive members to ensure that the party operates smoothly in order to give him time to carry out his fund raising and resource mobilisation mission. For a long time the country’s opposition parties have complained that lack of political party funding by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government has limited them.
However, in the 2014 general elections the opposition appeared to have made greater efforts to raise campaign funds and resources.
Both the UDC and the BCP appear more resourced than before thanks to international donors who reportedly fund them.
In 2014, the two parties launched visible nationwide campaigns, which among others included the use of branded buses and helicopters. The UDC nearly pulled a Houdin act at the 2014 general elections.
A decline of the BDP popular vote at the 2014 general elections was attributed to among others, massive campaigns launched by the opposition. In his lengthy address Boko, who was brought into the BNF to end conflicts that had troubled the party for a long time, said that the future of the UDC depends entirely on the stability of the BNF.
He also warned that he would not allow any ounce of anarchy to creep into the BNF.
“Discipline and order are the functional requisites of stability and they should be embraced within the BNF,” said Boko adding that no party can succeed when it does not enjoy stability.
He said that peace and stability are among factors that can help the BNF attract a sizeable number of members, which will boost the UDC.