We have leant with shock that even as Minister, Gladys Kokorwe has long called for restraint and common sense to prevail at the Botswana National Youth Council. The unruly outfit has still not reinstated its Executive Director who, a few weeks ago, they hounded out of office in a manner the Minister herself has since pronounced as illegal and un-procedural.
It has been over a month since Kokorwe called on the Board of BNYC council to reinstate Ndulamo Morima.
It is now clear that the BNYC is defying Kokorwe.
As a de facto structure of the ruling party, it’s possible the Council is goading her to take them up the hierarchy for disciplinary action.
How sad!
We have in the past on this space applauded Minister Kokorwe for demonstrating exceptional maturity and an obsession with fairness.
An experienced administrator such as she is, she was able to set aside the interests of her political party affiliation and remind the BNYC Board that they were wrong to treat Morima the way they did. We would like to suspect that Ms Kokorwe did this in spite of behind the scenes briefings she would have received that Morima is trying in his neutrality to take away the BNYC from the bosom of the BDP and deliver it unto a neutral place from whence it could be owned by every young Motswana of any persuasion.
Once again, we applaud Ms Kokorwe for such principled stance.
Ms Kokorwe is an experienced administrator who has served this country in many capacities for long and with admirable dedication and ability.
It is common knowledge that she wants to retire out of politics having announced that she will not be standing in the next General elections.
Where we differ with Ms Kokorwe is her apparent unwillingness to see to it that the small bullies that control the Board had indeed reinstated Morima.
It is common knowledge that Ms Kokorwe is almost at the sunset of her political career, having voluntarily announced that she would not be
contesting the next elections.
Our hold is that the mess at BNYC, as much as she did not tolerate it and even went as far as to publicly rebuke the bullies for their uncouth demeanour, still happened under her watch.
Before she bows out of active politics, which is likely to be in four weeks time, it’s our wish that she should see to it that the principles of fairness, honour and integrity which she has lived by throughout her long career are preserved if not beyond her stay at her ministry then at least within that time.
It’s difficult for us to see how she can do that when Morima is still out in the cold.
Just for public information, this newspaper has no ties with Morima. We do not even know which party he belongs to, if there is one. Our only gripe is that of all the Ministers, Kokorwe, may be out of her sense of duty, is the only minister who came closest to cutting the unhealthy link between BDP and BNYC ÔÇô the link which, while it has served the party so well, has done a lot to contaminate the image of the council and also alienate thousands of young people who want to be viewed as being independent of politics.
The BNYC bigots who want to use their BDP membership as a shield to trample on other Batswana should be reminded that even though the ruling party has over the years used the Council as its proxy, a kind of breeding ground, a nursery for its future leaders, the truth of the matter is that the BNYC is a national asset, financed not from Tsholetsa House, but rather with annual stipends from the Treasury.
That is what we call on Minister Kokorwe to prove.
Her membership to the BDP can certainly never be more important to her dedication and loyalty to this country.
She has come a long way to let the penny drop out on the last hour.
This is not blackmail but a tribute!
We think that before she leaves her ministry, Ms Kokorwe should put the BNYC house in order.
The nation will judge her by it, for many years to come by it!
