In a bid to increase its footprint and wrestle Tati West constituency from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in the coming general elections, opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is opening a party office in Masunga village.
The office will also help┬áto enhance┬áthe party’s┬áinteraction with the electorates in the constituency.
At a political rally in Moroka Village over the weekend to welcome over 150 new members, among them career diplomat and former Clerk of the National Assembly, Ernest Mpofu, BCP parliamentary hopeful for the constituency, Dr Phillip Bulawa, said the party is intensifying its campaign to topple the BDP in 2014.
Mpofu joins the ranks of the party’s advisors who include Gobe Matenge and Michael Dingake among others.
Tati West constituency is currently a BDP stronghold under incumbent Member of Parliament and businessman Charles Tibone.
Addressing the rally, Bulawa implored the people of Tati West to visit the office and share ideas and suggestions with them on thorny issues they would like to be tackled so as to address the numerous challenges plaguing the constituency.
He also asked for donations to help the party fund the office’s administration expenses as they have already started their campaign for 2014, adding that the BCP’s intention is┬ánot to increase its representation in parliament but rather to take over government.
The BCP parliamentary hopeful said if his party attains state power, it will introduce the teaching of the so-called minority languages.
Bulawa said such a move will instead unite Batswana in their diverse tribes and cultures.
He said had government not discriminated against other tribes and their languages, organizations such as Re Teng, SPILL, Pitso ya Batswana and others would never have been formed. Such organisations, he said, were formed to preserve and promote languages currently under threat.
“If there was no discrimination, those organisations would not be existing. In other countries different languages are taught and promoted yet there are no tribal wars. Why should we be teaching languages like French and Chinese at the expense of local indigenous languages?” asked Bulawa.
He added that it is only Botswana that does not have regional radio stations despite being one of the continent’s oldest democracies.┬á
For his part, BCP president Dumelang Saleshando┬ásaid it is not God’s will for Botswana to be ruled by one party eternally explaining that even the late president Sir Serese Khama acknowledged that fact by ensuring that when most of the African countries at independence adopted one party states, the former elder statesman opted for multi-party democracy as the appropriate model for his country.
“Seretse elected the multi-party democracy model because he feared the inherent dangers of one party rule. BDP has overstayed its welcome and it is time Batswana removed it from government,” said Saleshando.
Imploring the Tati West electorates to reject the BDP, he said in the current session of parliament, Tibone has asked more than 10 questions directed to different ministries on what development projects they had for the constituency and the answer was a disturbing and disappointing┬á“no funds for development projects had been allocated the constituency”.
Saleshando expressed his fears that the current high unemployment will lead many Batswana into committing suicide because life is becoming extremely unbearable each passing day.
The rally was addressed by, among others, Elias Mbonini, Joe Shabani who lost to incumbent Moroka ward councillor Edward Makhumalo as an independent in2009, Mpofu and former BCP National Youth League president Lotty Manyepetsa.
