KANG: In setting the tone for the National Council, the ruling party President Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi said that they should always bear at heart that they constitute the government, whose primary agenda is the social responsibility to its people.
Masisi said that the party must align its prioritization list with the key documents and policies of the government so that they deliver services to the people on time.
“I give thanks to the Lord for he is faithful. This is a day to reflect on what it means to be given the privilege to carry out the responsibility of leading a people diligently and seriously to serve all the democrats and the rest of Batswana as a people, and as a family. To achieve this, we must all pull our strengths in one direction. We must collectively propel the party forward. It is time for democrats to march forward without blinking or flinching,” Masisi stressed the point for needed commitment.
He recognised the challenges posed by unemployment especially among the young people, which phenomenon contributes to the sorry state of abject poverty that continues to rise in a country endowed with huge deposits of resources that could propel it into a self-sufficient nation.
To combat the menace of lawlessness that has besieged the ruling party in recent months, as a political institution, the Domkrag stable has adopted a tagline ‘Gooramotho’ which essentially has been cropped from the proverb that celebrates patriotism and a strong sense of belonging to a community, society and as such, one family.
“Gooramotho nullifies the preposterous item of ‘mekoko’ or independents, being members who were disgruntled from the outcome of the internal party democracy known as ‘bulela-di-tswe’ as the losers. Members must remain loyal to the party no matter the circumstances and place the interests of the party ahead of personal and often selfish agenda. We know for a fact that the opposition can’t be trusted to run the affairs of this country, no doubt, they are an unfit outfit. I am confident that we will win this year’s general election, not just win but resoundingly,” he said to a chorus of cheers and ululations.
The president made this comment quite alive to the conversations that were already going on inside the camp that gave his team sleepless nights ahead of the congress. One of the choices that the vanquished faction led by Ian Khama who anointed Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi as the main challenger for the party presidency have at their disposal is to form a political organisation, counting on the imagined influence that the former president has especially in the Central district where he remains the paramount chief, a document passed to the Sunday Standard that was put together by a team of publicists engaged by friends of Khama has revealed such a move.
“The year 2019 also promises you a rare enjoyment of your precious right ÔÇô it is an important moment to exercise your right in a democracy. We cannot go back to where we were before or we will go back to the 47 percent performance we saw in the entire history of this party in 2014. I am scared of imagining such a dismal performance under my watch. I implore all human resources to pull together across many fields. Why don’t you join me on this journey of prosperity? Who does not need a journey as that one, where we will join together in the shared wealth of this country? In conclusion, hold on to the BDP values, hold tight to the BDP principles and hold up the BDP ethos and practices that have earned us the respect that no other political party across Africa has ever enjoyed. We have become enviable because of these traditions,” Masisi pleaded.
