UDC March For Water
Monday, September 07, 2015
UDC members during the march on Friday
The main opposition, though stressing that the march was not a political move, had multitudes donned in the UDC colours and was supported by the smaller opposition Botswana Congress Party and the trade unions under the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU). The demonstrators, led by among others, the UDC secretary general, Ndaba Gaolathe, the Gaborone Central MP, Phenyo Butale and fellow opposition parliamentarians, seemed to be intent on delivering their message in the cold wet morning.
They carried political messages of demand and sang provocative songs pointed at the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and its leadership. President Ian Khama was the toast with some of the placards reading: ‘Khama le sa go kaila kaila re batla metsi’, ‘WUC e kae Thothi re e somarele’, ‘We want water not talk’.
It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...