BCP warns Ramsay against partisan politics

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Thursday February 10, 2011 00:00

BCP secretary general Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang said Ramsay reacted to political statements made by some leaders of the opposition concerning the illegal and unconstitutional relocation of residents of the CKGR and the controversial granting of a mining licence to Gem Diamonds.

'The BCP is concerned that ever since President Ian Khama took over the reigns of power, the line between the government and the ruling party has narrowed. Consequently some excited public servants, such as Ramsay, have come to think that serving the government is the same as serving the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).  Ramsay must understand that working in the Office of the President does not give him the license to openly engage in partisan politics because he could be in breach of the Public Service Act. We wish to remind him that it is the responsibility of the minister who is the political head of the ministry to respond to political leaders on matters of government policy,' he said.

When Mmegi asked him what utterances the government spokesman made on the issue, Gobotswang said the former accused opposition politicians of misleading people by saying the government forcibly relocated Basarwa from the CKGR to mine diamonds in the reserve.

The BCP official said they had only pointed out that because there will be human population in the CKGR; they wondered why government did not want Basarwa to live in the reserve.

'Ramsay should keep quiet because the matter has been settled by the courts and government has lost. They should just focus on implementing the court judgment,' he said.

Gobotswang said Ramsay should tell the nation and the world why the residents of CKGR were forcibly relocated in the first instance and what happened to the government contention that the CKGR must maintain its reserve and wildlife preservation status, and 'how he reconciles the policy of wildlife preservation and mining activities together with the development of tourism resorts within the CKGR,' he said.

However Ramsay has told Mmegi that as government spokesperson it is his duty to communicate the policies and programmes of the government of the day. He said over the past decade he has avoided direct reference to, 'much less commentary about, any political formation or personality in our country, mindful of the fact that the government of the day, along with its Public Service, is established to serve all citizens,' he said.

He said on the relocation of residents of the CKGR, his only recent comment on the matter was to deny the allegation that government in the period since the relocation denied the existence of diamond prospecting and deposits within the reserve.

'In this context I drew a private sector journalist's attention to previous government statements on the matter including a detailed 2004 press statement on the matter originally issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which from said time has been on-line by government for easy and public reference. It may be noted that the said 2004 statement does not make reference to any political figure or party,' he said.