30 Jul 2019

 Understanding politics, its dynamics and the role of the ordinary citizens and politicians is critical in Botswana’s democratic dispensation.  

This was said by Botswana Coalition on Education for All (BOCEFA) representative Mr Jerry Moloko s when addressing politicians and the community in a political education workshop on July 29.

He noted that civic education and voter participation in the political process required both electorates and politicians to have full understanding of how democracy was run. 

In a democratic setting, he said, elected officials were answerable to the people and should be held accountable.

 He asserted that the rule of law, human rights and individual freedoms, participating in an electoral process, good governance and accountability were basic democratic tenets governing the people. 

He told trainees that democracy was a process, which hinged on consultation.

In a democratic set-up,  Mr Moloko said, ultimate power was with the people.

He said Batswana were free to work anywhere in the country no matter where they came from because democracy permitted them to.

Mr Moloko told participants who came from Tsabong and villages in the vicinity that political representation should reflect equal representation irrespective of whether they were a minority group or not. 

Thus important to adopt an all-inclusive approach to reinforce egalitarian ethos.  

He said democracy had been part of Batswana through the kgotla system and began from the family unit where contestation of ideas began and proliferated into the society.  

He said just like any other political system there were two sides to it both positive and negative and therefore it was pertinent to salvage on the positives, hence both the electorates and voters needed to understand their role in this electoral system.

He said contrary to the notion that some electorates expected councillors to bring firewood to their funerals, this was not supposed to be the case as electorates were supposed to engage their leaders on bread and butter issues in the right fora and not expect them to do some things for them.

Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO) representative Ms Mpho Tapela said they were training people in an apolitical manner.  

She said a democratic set up was supposed to embrace the views and opinions of everyone.

Thus the civic education would guide the people on what democracy required to thrive as they head to the general elections in October this year.

And she called for all to know their rights as voters.

 “When you exercise your right, you should not step on the other’s right,” Ms Tapela said.

The three-day workshop, which commenced on Monday attracted politicians, prospective candidates, elders, the youth and people living with disabilities.

A similar workshop organized by BOCONGO, BOCEFA, and Botswana Society for the Deaf funded by the European Union was conducted in Mathangwane, Maun, Ghanzi, and shall be carried out in Palapye and Gaborone after Tsabong.

The main objective is to educate Batswana across the country on democracy through civic and voter education in the electoral processes in a non-political way. 

 

To empower the people with basic knowledge and skills to understand political and governance processes so that they can participate and demand good governance. Ends