23 Feb 2015

In an endeavour to raise awareness on the importance of youth participation in politics through voting the Organisation for Youth and Elections in Botswana (OYEBO) held a workshop for youth in Maun recently.

Speaking at the workshop, Kgosi Prinsloo Shashe of Shashe ward in Maun implored youth to respect Bogosi, noting that chieftaincy was significant since Botswana’s political stability was built upon it.

Botswana’s democracy, he said, was embedded upon the Setswana principles of “Ntwa kgolo ke ya molomo” thus Botswana was not synonymous with political unrests like other countries in the SADC region and world.

“If we can stick to our Setswana culture our democracy will continue to be the shining example in Africa and world,” he said.

Kgosi Shashe said most youth shunned customary law and promoted foreign cultures, adding that Bogosi laid foundation for the country’s democracy.

Youth in developed countries, he said, were conversant on the significance of voting while in Botswana politicians fell short of educating the youth.

The OYEBO executive director, Mr Bernard Bogosi said youth ought to choose political representatives who would put forward their needs, adding that it was disheartening that women political representation remained low citing that only four women were voted into Parliament in the last general elections and only one woman was appointed as specially elected.

However, Mr Bogosi noted that OYEBO was making positive strides in voter education, noting that through their workshops they discovered about 200 adults, who had never voted since independence and 67 of them voted in the past election for the first time, while many youth also exercised their right to vote.

Mr Bogosi said OYEBO was mandated to educate especially the youth on the importance of voting and advocate for youth political representation at council and parliamentary level.

He said as OYEBO they believed political parties should be funded, he said although they carried out education campaigns as OYEBO it remained a challenge for youth to stand for political positions since it was expensive.

Some youth at the workshop cited ignorance as one of the reasons for voter apathy. They said some youth failed to seek information from politicians and relevant stakeholders. ENDS