Kwelagobe's speech at BDP Youth Congress

| Friday June 25, 2010 00:00

 

Members of the central committee of BDP;Chairperson and members of the national executive committee of the Botswana Democratic party women's wing; Members of the national youth executive committee of our youth wing;Honourable members of parliament;Honourable councilors;Members of all BDP regional branch, ward and other structures in attendance today;Ladies and Gentlemen;It has become a clich at gatherings of this nature for speakers to begin or preface, their statements with phrases such as 'we are meeting at a crucial, or critical time, or against the backdrop of momentous developments or events:. Yet, with all that is happening on our national political landscape today, and particularly having regard to what has taken place within our great party in recent months, including:

*The unprecedented number of BDP members (at heart) who stood as independent candidates in the 2009 general election;*The formation, and aggregation, by such expelled persons around the newly established Botswana Movement for democracy (BMD)*The defections of some BDP councilors, as well as more than half the membership of the NYEC, as well as practically the entire membership of our GS26 structure to the BMD;*The defections of some key members manning positions in our regional and branch structures;All these developments, whether or not we readily acknowledge them, must surely warrant the descriptions of either 'historic times' or 'momentous developments'.

Considering all these challenges facing us as a party, we have a duty to make a thorough assessment of our present position making sure that we undertaken an honest and critical evaluation of our achievements, our limitations and, indeed, our deficiencies and shortcomings in our party administration and management, irrespective of the embarrassments this may, at times, cause us.

This is no time for alibis and excuses, obfuscations or congratulatory toasts and cocktails; but must be recognized to be a vital and much needed opportunity for serious introspection and forward planning.

Batswana, le Ma-Domkrag, are eagerly awaiting the outcome of this congress and it is my greatest hope that you shall all make a determined effort to fulfill their legitimate expectations.

I do not consider that this onerous charge to this party's youth wing, or that my faith in its ability to offer solutions to our present challenges, is misplaced.

It was, after all, the late Sir Seretse Khama (our founding state and party president) who said the following; on the occasion of  the16 annual conference of the BDP at Mochudi on the 9 April 1977:

'What I ask of the young people of Botswana is that they should realise that they are the generation of today and tomorrow. The future of this country rests in their hands.

Many of us who are gathered here today are on our way out having made our contribution as best as we could to the welfare of our country... All that we seek at this juncture is, therefore, to involve young Batswana in the activities which have made the Botswana Democratic Party a great party because in all our efforts and endeavours, we have been guided by one ideal, and one ideal only, and that is the ideal of Kagisano, the ideal which ahs made our country a true model of democracy'.

Those observations by the late Sir Seretse Khama are as pertinent and relevant today, as they were then. It follows that we are entitled to look to our youth wing in our ongoing search for possible solutions to our current internal difficulties.

Any self-respecting party youth wing should be relied upon and trusted to be able to circumvent such divisions and tensions as may exist elsewhere in the party, and in-keeping with our very own proverb, i.e. 'Botlhale jwa phala bo tswa Phalaneng', and actually educate, guide and inform its mother-body.

As was stated by none other than President J.F. Kennedy, on the occasion of his inauguration 'to some generations much is given, of other generations much is expected; but this generation of youth has a rendez-rous with destiny' (or words to that effect). One of the casualties during the course of our current instabilities has been party unity, and it is my hope that this youth congress shall succeed in elevating the things which actually bind and unite us, over those which have tended to divide and polarise us.

Master of Ceremonies, the youth wind of a political party, especially one which has been  in governance for the length of time that Domkrag has been, has a heightened and enhanced responsibility to monitor the national mood and pulse, and to accurately transmit those sentiments to higher echelons of the party, and particularly those charged with governance of the nation.

Therefore, you have the challenge of ensuring the continuing relevance of your party, its government and its policies to the aspirations and needs of Batswana.

If you are unable, or unwilling, to do so we run the risk of creating a major disconnect or disjunction between our party leadership and the people, with the consequences which the late Sir Seretse described in the allowing words:

 'History has shown that a leadership which divorces itself from the people is a leadership devoid of wisdom. Dictatorships and tyrannical systems of government are hatched and nurtured in the minds of men who appoint themselves philosopher kings and possessors of absolute truth.

 In Botswana we have made sure that the will of the people is supreme and that those who are in government are there with the clear consent of the governed. This has been our source of strength...'

Master of Ceremonies, Fellow Democrats, with these brief observations and remarks, I welcome you, one and all, to this important congress of the BDP youth wing.

I hope and trust that all your deliberations will be constructive, fruitful and purposeful and that this congress shall fulfill all the hopes and trust reposed in it by so many of our members and compatriots!I thank you!