BDP finally acts on Ntuane reforms

Botswana Democratic Party’s (BDP) Secretary General Botsalo Ntuane faces the toughest test of his political life when the party decides on the’ reforms he presented to the party in 2015

Ntuane introduced the reforms during his campaign for the office in 2015 which he termed BDP Reform Agenda Conversation; 22 Discussion Points’. Ntuane has been criticised within the party for failing to ensure that the reforms see the light of the day.
He has however indicated that the reforms are no longer his but belongs to democrats. The party is set to decide which reforms to adopt and which to dump during its National Council which starts today (Friday) in Gaborone.

Ntuane has indicated that it took long for a decision to be made on the reforms because they are a work in progress and there is engagement between the party leadership and experts who have been roped in to interrogate the reforms.In the reforms, the former Gaborone Bonnington South MP cautioned the party to understand that it will not rule forever but can still retain power for two more terms (10 years) either on its own or in a coalition.

“Should our tenure in power come to an end without having introduced key electoral reforms such as Proportional Representation and party funding, we will go the way of the dodo because the new rulers will have no incentive to oblige us on,” he said.

He called for the advocacy for a strong activist Central Committee and this means recalibrating their relations with government and reclaiming the party authority over government. Responding to a question about progress on the reforms, Ntuane stated that the engaged experts from various fields have concluded their work and presented the report to the party Central Committee.  He revealed that the report would be presented tomorrow (Saturday) for deliberations by BDP members. After deliberating on the reforms, Ntuane said then the council would decide which reforms to adopt or discard.

“We worked with experts in different fields to advise accordingly. There was a lot going on internally in this exercise. There has been an engagement between the experts and President Ian Khama and different party committees where robust debates were undertaken on the reforms”, revealed Ntuane who added that it is now up to democrats to act on the reforms. In the reforms Ntuane reiterated the need for the enactment of the law on declaration of assets and liabilities. This he said would demonstrate the BDP’s commitment to good governance and zero tolerance for corruption and abuse of public office.

Ntuane said the BDP had suffered a political backlash due to unfinished mega projects but no action was taken. He called for an activist Central Committee, which must demand accountability and for heads to roll when wasteful expenditure occurs.