Sunday, February 16, 2025

Boko urges Gov’t to fight poverty, inequality

The President of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Duma Boko says there is need for the government to ensure that there is fair and equitable distribution of national resources so that all Batswana can thrive and reach their full potential.

In his contribution to the draft NDP 11, Boko whose campaign is built onfighting inequality decried the fact that only the wealthy few were enjoying national resources whilst the majority of Batswana were suffering. He also launched a scathing attack on his fellow parliamentarians and urged them to earnestly consider ways in which the country can move towards equity.

Amongst other things, the UDC President said there is no way the NDP 11 can be unveiled without seriously considering the number of Batswana living in abject poverty. In his defence of the poor, Boko explained to parliament that “poverty is a gross violation of human rights; it mocks the rights enshrined under the Bill of rights in the Constitution of this Republic.”

In his overall assessment, Boko said the reason why Botswana is ranked among one of the worst unequal societies in the world is mainly because of failure by the politicians to address inequality.

However, he said research based interventions were necessary especially when preparing policies such as NDP 11, adding that he strongly believed draft NDP 11 would break up data according to gender issues, distribution of wealth by gender in relation to young people and those living with disabilities, amongst others.

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