As political campaigns intensify toward the general election that will be held on the 16 October, the Botswana Democratic Party will be taken to task by the Ministry of Education and Skills Development after the party allegedly used a primary school teacher to advertise and to promote their organization.
The public relations officer in the education ministry, Nomsa Zuze said: “The ministry is very embarrassed about what the teacher did.”
She said that Tebogo Setlhomo is a teacher at Diphetogo Primary School in Gaborone West “therefore the employer will deal with her accordingly”.
She said Setlhomo is teacher and no civil servant is allowed to be actively involved in politics “but what the teacher did is uncalled for”.
She said she is not sure what kind of action will be taken against the teacher.
Secretary general of the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) Keorapetse Kgasa said: “We were shocked when we saw Setlhomo in one of the BDP advertisements”.
He said the union will seek clarification from the ministry “but what we know is that no civil servant is allowed to participate in active politics,” he said.
The publicity secretary of the BDP, Comma Serema said: “Yes, we used Tebogo as part of our political campaign but I was not aware thatTebogo was a teacher”.
He said the BDP used her as an artist. Tebogo Setlhomo, commonly known as ‘Tebbi’ appeared on the Daily News paper of last week Monday in full BDP regalia casting a ballot for the BDP.
Contacted for a comment, Setlhomo said: “ I am unable to comment because I m preparing to go to the United States of America”.
