01 Nov 2017

Vice President Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has praised the media for remaining committed to their watchdog role.   

Mr Masisi made the accolades during the annual Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) end of the year interaction with the media, where he said he was pleased with the role played by media in the development of the country.  Mr Masisi who is also the chairperson of BDP said his party had no intention of controlling the media for its own benefit.

He nevertheless said while he believed in the might of the pen, media practitioners should not abuse this privilege and make unfounded allegations and report on negative issues which had the potential to rub other people the wrong way. 

He however said he believed in free press because the media was a partner in development as people came to know issues through it.

Mr Masisi, who said it was important for his party to interact with the media in a relaxed mood to share ideas, advised reporters not to compromise the privacy of the so called public figures and prominent people because they too were just normal beings in the society. 

Meanwhile Mr Masisi said BDP in the year 2017 was growing at a fast pace because it was correcting itself, noting that some people might not see this positive development because the party was not publicly stating where it went wrong in the past. He however promised to reveal this ‘very soon.’

Earlier on the president of Botswana Media and Allied Workers Union (BOMAWU) Mr Philemon Mmeso said ever since last year there had been reports doing rounds to the effect that the BDP had finally captured the media but said this was not true because media houses had no problem working and interacting with any political party or any entity.

He said such interactions should be frequent so that the two could iron out their differences and forge the way forward. 

Mr Mmeso also noted that the ruling party should always consult the media as the fourth estate on some crucial governance issues.

Mr Mmeso pleaded with the Vice President that the government should advertise in local papers because newspaper owners claimed that there were no profits because  government was not fully advertising in their papers and as such there were no salary increases and retrenchments were looming.    

In his welcome remarks, BDP secretary general Mr Mpho Balopi said BDP prides itself with the fact that under its rule no media practitioners was jailed. ENDS