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Botswana: BAM Exhorts Mugabe And Tsvangirai to Talk
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Oarabile Mosikare
Francistown
The Botswana Alliance Movement gathering over the Presidents' Day holidays postponed its National Executive Council to coincide with delegates' conference on a date yet to be announced.
The BAM meeting responded to reports emanating out of Zimbabwe that South Africa's President and peace broker, Thabo Mbeki had successfully negotiated a platform for dialogue between the political adversaries, Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF, and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a five page memorandum on Monday setting out and agenda for talks which will include a discussion of a strategy to avert the impact of sanctions.
BAM also resolved at the just ended seventh annual delegates conference held at Leseding Hall to explore possibilities of a merger with the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
The party says the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government should take steps to subsidise the consumers to protect them against the escalating inflation caused by the ever increasing fuel and food prices. It also resolved "that they should endeavour to network with organisations such as Emang Basadi and others in order to enhance the status of the disadvantaged groups in the body politic of Botswana.
"That efforts should be made to encourage the public to undertake HIV tests to the possible untold effects of the condition of HIV/AIDS. The party requests government to conduct a thorough survey on the so-called passion killing acts with the aim of establishing the real causes so as to avert the recurrence of the acts."
The leader of BCP, Gilson Saleshando, officially opening the BAM conference, passionately pleaded with BAM followers to test for HIV and know their status. Saleshando who was carrying his Tebelopele passport disclosed that this year he has attended four funerals of BCP members who succumbed to HIV/AIDS scourge.
He said it was possible that every month about 10 BCP followers were dying of the disease. "We are only told of members who are holding positions in the party," revealed Saleshando.
On other issues he said his address at BAM conference was proof that the memorandum of understanding they signed in 2005 was a huge breakthrough.
"Our combined efforts (BAM, BCP, NDF [New Democratic Front]) present a serious challenge to the BDP. This is as it should be. And as we intensify our joint campaigns the BDP will panic even more and President Ian Khama will begin to spit out a mixture of initiatives and curses until people realise that his is irresponsible populism. Irresponsible populism and being surrounded by one's relatives and henchmen are necessary steps to dictatorship," Saleshando said.
The BCP president pleaded with his comrades not to be surprised when President Ian Khama and his henchmen say nothing about the BDP and government policies when addressing meetings. He claimed that the ruling party has a high election fever saying that Khama is the new name of the ruling party and Khama's initiatives are the election manifesto. He added that this behaviour is prompted by a conscience that has become totally depraved.
Saleshando quoted the Greek philosopher Plato who said; there should exist among citizens neither extreme poverty nor again excessive wealth for both are productive of great evil." Saleshando said that the BDP brotherhood of evil has, theoretically, changed direction.
"This is the same gang that has been looting the economy since independence. There is no evidence that they have been born again. This failure of BDP leadership has actually consigned many Batswana to poverty, misery and death. The BDP leadership has lost moral authority", he said.
Saleshando quoted another writer Paul Mckenna who said: "Poverty is not an accident that just happens to some people and not to others- it is a predictable result created by indifference to the plight of citizens prompted by a conscience that has become totally depraved."
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Adam Smith said "no society can be flourishing and happy of which the far greater part of members are poor and miserable". Saleshando, clearly in his element said Khama is just a scarecrow organised by political opportunists. "With their limited intelligence, birds have a total disregard for scarecrows," Saleshando observed.
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