The BDP was left with an egg on its face after performing dismally and this week it was announced that the former ruling party will walk away with P5.4 million. This is because the BDP managed only four parliamentary seats in the recently held General Election.
Earlier this year when the then Minister for Presidential Affairs Kabo Morwaeng announced that the funds would be divided according to how political parties fared in the elections. By then the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) looked like it would be the one to get crumbs or nothing as they had bolted out of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
The tables have changed so the BCP will get P8.7 million, Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) P5.7 million and Umbrella Democratic Change (UDC) will get P14.7 million. The Minister for State President Moeti Mohwasa told the media yesterday at the All party conference that everything was done after proper consultation with all parties and they were all in agreement on the matter.
He, however, said they have agreed to go and look at some of the Acts in the law that they are uncomfortable with. He also explained that in terms of accountability, they had asked each party to open an account for the funds. Moreover, he said the funds were allocated according to the law, on how it should be done.
“I implore all of you to temporarily put our political differences in abeyance when we are in this meeting and instead focus on what is good for our country and Batswana. You must have noticed that, as the UDC-led government we are doing our level best to ensure that peace is maintained in our country at all costs at the risk of bearing the wrath of our members who are advocating for radical changes in the public service," Mohwasa said.
Furthermore, he said it would be counterproductive to bring radical changes to the government personnel. In addition, he said they would rather rely on meritocracy as a guiding principle in deciding who stays and who goes, but not party affiliation because doing that will be counterproductive and may derail them from achieving what they set themselves to achieve in five years.
Mohwasa also pointed out that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss electoral reforms as per the proposals they made in the previous meetings. The Minister said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss modalities of political funding.
Mohwasa said gatherings such as All Political Party Conference meetings serve as a significant platform for fostering unity, open dialogue, and collaborative policymaking across the political spectrum. He said these meetings bring together representatives from various political parties to discuss critical national issues, exchange views on governance, and formulate strategies for addressing the needs and aspirations of the electorate.
Mohwasa also said the primary objective of such conferences is to create an environment of mutual respect, enabling party leaders and legislators from different political affiliations to find common ground on matters of national importance. “This can include issues like economic policy, national security, social justice, healthcare, and environmental concerns,” he said.
