P34 million political party funding money lying idle
With only four months to the general elections, political parties are yet to agree on the best model for sharing the P34.6 million allocated by government as highlighted by the Minister of Finance Peggy Serame in her presentation of the national budget in February this year.
Different political leaders representing their parties had different opinions on how the sharing should be done, with the matter now awaiting debate at the upcoming third meeting of the fifth session of the 12th Parliament. Minister for State President, Kabo Morwaeng, who convened an All-Party Conference last week, confirmed that the matter would be tabled at the next session, adding that he drafting of the proposed bill was ongoing, with the intention of finally coming up with the best funding formula.
"We are very confident that the bill will mature on time and be enacted before the general elections which usually come in October," Morwaeng said, adding that it was important to convene the All Party Conference to enhance transparency on the matter, and to openly discuss modalities of funding by peer political groups as party of a desirable democratic principle that also promotes inclusivity. There were glaring differences on how the parties wanted the funding to happen, with Biggie Butale of the Botswana Republican Party as well as Moeti Mohwasa of Umbrella for Democratic Change favouring an allocation dependent on the number of parliamentary seats a party is occupying at the time of sharing the funds.
"Our position has always been clear that funding should be determined by the political party's performance in the previous elections," Mohwasa said, Botswana Congress Party on the other hand wants the money to be disbursed equitably among all political parties without looking at performance in the last elections. This sentiment is also shared by the Botswana Patriotic Front who however add that 80 percent of the money should be shared equally among all parties, with 20 percent shared according to past performance.
The All Party Conference was held last week Thursday at Phakalane.