Your article was offensive
Correspondent | Friday April 7, 2017 11:22
“BNF has a poor culture of committees failing to hand over when they are voted out of office, as the new central committee is also struggling with the previous committee to do proper hand over to the treasurer. The two issues are expected to be top of the agenda at the next central committee meeting scheduled for next month, after the secretary general failed to act on the youth concerns”.
We would like to state that this is not correct and it seeks to portray the party and the secretary general in bad light. The central committees that have been elected over the years have never at anytime failed to carry out a proper hand over, contrary to your statement. To say that failure to do hand over reports in the party is a culture is not only false but also malicious. Immediately after the central committee was elected in Francistown last year, a brief meeting was held and a date was set for the following week where the hand over process started. Not all the members from the out going and the in coming central committees were there, due other pressing commitments. But as at now, the process has long been concluded.
Regarding the hand over by the previous youth league central committee, we have to say this is worrying to the party which is why when this was brought to the attention of the secretary general, corrective measures were put in place. When the Youth League raised the issue at the central committee, concern was also raised and the central committee noted the efforts that the secretary general was making. It is therefore outright preposterous to say that the Secretary General has failed to deliver on this matter.
The Secretary General of the Botswana National Front, in terms of article 21.2.2 sees to it that the all organs of the BNF carry out their duties properly.
Having said that, this does not take away the autonomy of the BNYL. When a reporter pens a story, expectation is that he/she will endeavour to show that the story is not only balanced but also fair and free of gossip mongering.
This matter is still being dealt with and the Secretary General will be meeting the new Youth League central committee soon to get a briefing on the matter and other issues. We are therefore constrained to say more on this matter.
What is worrying in this story is that it does not prove that the author sought to verify the above assertions which are total untruths. Even if she did, it does not come out in the article, which is unfair to the reader. Had the reporter strictly stuck to journalism ethics and principles, the innuendos created would have been avoided.
It is our hope that our concerns will be noted and this regrettable oddity avoided in the future.
*Moeti Mohwasa is BNF secretary general