01 Jun 2015

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Gladys Kokorwe, yesterday (June 1), met with the German parliament delegation to share ideas and experiences as well as cement the relationship between the two countries.

Chairperson of the parliamentary caucus on women, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso, and the Clerk of the National Assembly, Ms Barbara Dithapo, attended the session in which they briefed the delegation on the processes of the Parliament of Botswana.

Ms Kokorwe thanked the German MPs for finding it fit to visit Botswana. She briefed them on the structure of Botswana Parliament, the elections process and the different sessions of Parliament: the State of the Nation Address, budget and the July winter sitting.

The speaker stated that Botswana had a good committee system, which worked well for the attainment of respective committee mandates. Ms Kokorwe said the main challenge they faced as women was the low representation of women in parliament as evidenced by the few women seats.

In her remarks, Ms Tshireletso said they were proud to have a woman speaker further indicating that there were women headed ministries. She stated that her committee was tasked with promoting adequate representation of women and educating the public on issues affecting women.

Ms Tshireletso said the caucus was well represented in regional, continental and world forums adding that as the chairperson, she made statements in parliament during commemorations that celebrated women.

She concurred that the representation of women in parliament was still worrying as women did not have interest in contesting for political seats.

German MPs leader of delegation, Ms Dagmar Freitag, thanked the Speaker for the kind reception, noting that they visited to learn about Botswana and the challenges faced by the country. 

She stated that her delegation comprised of members from different parties in Germany also from different committees within parliament. Ms Freitag said the German parliament was a member of the SADC parliament friendship and hence their visit to Botswana as a SADC country.

The delegation also met with the members of the health and HIV/AIDS committee and the Education and Skills Development Committee. Ends