INSIDE THE PRESIDENCY FOR FRIDAY 23-8-13: BBS PROMOTES LEADERSHIP THROUGH READERSHIP Welcome once more to your weekly window into events and issues involving the Presidency. With Parliament out of session Cabinet has also been on a short recess this week. His Excellency the President, Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, is expected to join members of the public at this year’s Khawa Dune Challenge & Cultural Festival, which is being held today and tomorrow at and around Khawa, which is located about 170 km west of Tsabong in the southern Kgalagadi District. The family-oriented event will offer a range of activities, including will a Quad and Motor Bike Challenge traversing the area’s Sand Dunes, Camel Race and rides, as well as showcasing the diverse heritage of the Kgalagadi. There will also be a four team football tournament. Last weekend, President Khama attended the 33rd Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, which took place in Lilongwe, Malawi. Speaking to reporters following his return, the President confirmed that Botswana will continue to work cooperatively with the government and people of Zimbabwe, observing: “Zimbabwe is our neighbour, they have a government which is in place for the next five years and we have to continue to improve our cooperation between us and them and we shall be doing so.” President Khama further confirmed that during the Summit Botswana had communicated its recommendation on the desirability of holding an audit of the recent Zimbabwe election, noting that a dossier of the findings of the Botswana Electoral Observer team had been submitted to the the political organ of SADC. He further added: “We have done all we needed to do, we issued our statement and it is now in the organ’s hands.” President Khama described the Summit as productive saying the discussions on political situation in the region as positive, more especially with respect to Madagascar; where the leaders welcomed the establishment of the Special Electoral Court of Madagascar pave the way for the holding of free, fair and credible elections in the country. In this respect the Summit especially welcomed the decision of the newly formed Special Electoral Court to withdraw nine Presidential candidates from the presidential race, including, Mr. Andry Rajoelina, Mrs. Lalao Ravalomanana and Mr. Didier Ratsiraka. While congratulating the Special Electoral Court for its bold decision, the leaders urged the Court to speed up the process of holding elections in the country. In his remarks to journalists, Khama also noted that the Summit had also received reports on SADC regional economic integration, gender developments, HIV/AIDS, the SADC tribunal as well as food security. He further welcomed the election of Dr. Stergomena Tax from Tanzania as the new SADC Executive Secretary saying it reflected progress in the representation of women in leadership positions in the region. Vice President Yesterday His Honour the Vice President, Dr. Ponatshego Kedikilwe, was in Harare, where he attended the inauguration of H.E. Robert Mugabe as President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. His Honour was joined at the event by the two Former Presidents, H.E. Sir Ketumile Masire and H.E. Festus Mogae. On Monday, Vice President Kedikilwe was in the remote Kgalagadi village of Zutswa where he officially opened a new library at Letswai Primary School, which had been funded by Botswana Building Society (BBS) at a cost of P 1.266 million as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility Programme. In his remarks, His Honour observed that in as much as it is important to fed the body there is in any community no matter how humble also a need to feed the mind, the spirit and the imagination: “Books feed the soul, the heart, the mind and the imagination. Books help us to grow, to expand and to chart a higher destiny and this library will help fill that need. There is more to just opening a library. The library should advance the cause of equal opportunity; the cause of poverty eradication through knowledge; the cause of inequality; the cause of marginalization; the cause of opening up a wider horizon; the cause of advancing the relevant pillars of Vision 2016; the causes of self-reliance and sustaining sources of livelihood.” The Vice President further noted that that through its gesture BBS had responded positively to Government’s call for meaningful partnerships between schools and businesses or civic organizations through the Adopt-a-School initiative. Mogae launches Election Report On Wednesday, Former President Festus Mogae was the guest of honour at the Botswana Launch of the Global Commission Report on Elections, Democracy & Security entitled “Deepening Democracy: a Strategy for Improving the Integrity of Elections Worldwide.” The launch was jointly sponsored by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral assistance (IDEA). It also coincided with an IEC/IDEA media training workshop on electoral processes. Mogae, himself, was a member of the of the twelve person Global Commission, which was chaired by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and consisted of other distinguished former world leaders, Nobel Prize winners and academics. The Global Commission’s report found that while all but 11 countries have held national elections since 2000, some were deeply flawed. The report further proposed a series of recommendations to strengthen electoral processes and norms.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 05:24:01 +0000
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