Of the UDC Manifesto  and NDP 12: Quo Vadis The New Botswana?

This coming Monday week, Parliament convenes in a special meeting to debate the National Development Plan 12 (NDP 12).  Since 1965, Botswana’s socio-economic trajectory was based on a series of  Year National Development Plans of five years, starting with the Transitional Plan for Social and Economic Development in 1965/1966,  which was followed by the first fully-fledged National Development 1 (1968/1973). The latest NDP 12 will run from 2025/2026 to 2029/2030 planning period.  Towards the end of NDP 11, the then ruling  Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government, made a  policy decision that going forward, NDPs would be aligned with the electoral cycles to enhance Botswana democracy. This was a very significant policy shift, and was understood to mean that NDP 12 will be aligned with the policies of the ruling party (which now happens to be the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), by infusing and or incorporating into the plan, the  promises made during  general election campaigns. It is common knowledge that the previous NDPs were not necessarily in alignment with the them ruling party general election promises: the party said one thing, and the government did something else. As parliament starts the debate on NDP 12, members of parliament, in particular UDC MPs  must satisfy themselves that indeed NDP 12 is in alignment with UDC elections promises. To effectively interrogate the draft NDP 12, the UDC MPs need to be well versed in their party manifesto, for come 2029, the UDC is going to be judged against the same.