BDP members challenge Tafa’s dual roles

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) congress for the Francistown region held at Shashe-Mooke adopted a motion calling for a review of Parks Tafa’s dual roles within the party. Tafa is the party’s Eletoral Board chairman and also serves as the BDP legal advisor.

The Francistown region is made of the Francistown East, Tonota, Francistown West, Francistown South and Tati East constituencies. Smarting from a near loss of power in the last general elections, members of the party would like to see an improvement in the administration of their primary elections. Hence, the congress adopted a motion restraining the central committee from interfering with the vetting process at branch level during primary elections. Worried by the spectre of conflict of interest, the congress would like the chairman of the party Electoral Board to not also act as the party legal advisor.

On other issues the congress would like the Electoral Board to have a clear cut off date for the arrival and of both the voters’ rolls and membership cards which would allow for the distribution of the membership cards to their owners before the primaries.During the last primary elections party membership cards did not arrive in time to be distributed to their owners in the run-up to the elections last year. This led to hundreds of members failing to take part in the primaries because they did not have membership cards to prove their bonafides at the primary elections voting centres.

The region also adopted a motion seeking for the review of the Ipelegeng programme.  Party members insisted that, government should consider safety clothing for the Ipelegeng workers because any compromise of safety on them may be taken to the freedom squares by the opposition as political fodder. The adopted motions will be cascaded to the forthcoming national congress.