Mmegi

BDP moves to end Bulela Ditswe ‘fraud’

Innocent Selatlhwa

With primary elections looming ahead of the 2024 General Election, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has come up with reforms to try to curb headaches brought about by Bulela Ditswe.

This was revealed by BDP’s Political Education and Elections Committee (PEEC) chairperson, Alec Seametso at the party’s Youth National Policy Forum in Serowe over the weekend. “President Masisi hates corruption, not just in government.

We have realised that some of you contest for positions in the BDP to boost your political profiles and get paying appointments. That must stop. We know some regional leaders of the youth took up the positions to try to use them to get a parliamentary seat. Some amongst you take up positions to push other people’s agendas.

Some do bad things deliberately including the destruction of registration books when they believe that could help them attain a parliamentary or council seat,” he said. Seametso said the BDP central committee has noted that their membership list is not up to scratch stating that some people would have multiple party membership cards.

“The BDP will brag of a certain number of members, only to find that those are also members of another party. We do not have proper regulations around our membership. Another problem is that our membership is also obtained for free. People claim that some would not be able to afford it. This problem is caused by Bulela Ditswe as people pay for others just so they can vote for them in Bulela Ditswe.

Now we have a problem as we no longer know who is our member. Some just come in to vote for their candidate while they are not really BDP members,” he said. Seametso said, for this reason, their new registration system uses new technology to be able to verify the BDP membership of individuals.

“As PEEC, we will be sending out our members to your constituencies to get the work started. Next year is going to be very busy as we will change our membership.

New cards will be printed, we will be using our old database and transferring to a new system. However, additional information will be required from those in structures to confirm membership. This will also assist us in strengthening cell structures which have been neglected.

No BDP member will be registered without knowing those in their cell structures,” Seametso said, adding that they believe this will help reduce the trafficking of voters as well as ensure that a proper membership list is maintained for a proper voters roll.

Meanwhile, Seametso also took a swipe at the young BDP members for getting intoxication. “In terms of leadership posture, we have a lot to do on our youth.

I cannot say much, but you should all know your roles as leaders of youth from different regions. How do those who should have led their delegations arrive late? I spent the whole day here and I was wondering if people will be able to listen to me. Yes, they can enjoy themselves as youth, but it has to be at the right time.

The way you are enjoying, you will say people are not recognising you. Recognition is earned by taking yourself seriously. Branch leaders should be sober throughout the proceedings. Get serious, so that we can take you seriously,” he said.

NEWS

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2022-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://enews.mmegi.bw/article/281608129447158

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