Serame pioneers financial independence for BDP women
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday October 2, 2024 09:38
Party members credit her for achieving financial independence for the Women’s Wing, a significant shift from the past. They describe her as a hardworking leader who stepped in when the party needed a strong guiding figure. Her character of being soft-spoken may deceive many as women believe that once she makes a decision, it cannot easily be changed. Despite her background in the civil service and her relative newness to politics, Serame stands out as a leader, according to her colleague and vice chairperson of the Women’s Wing Veronica Lesole.
She revealed that when Serame assumed leadership role of the Women’s Wing in 2022, she made it clear that she wanted the organisation to be financially self-sufficient rather than dependent on the main party. 'We initiated activities to raise funds to support the wing. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the wing was able to donate money to the country,' Lesole explains.
According to her, Serame values consultation and ensures that all activities align with the party's constitution. This led to the development of a funeral scheme that benefits both individuals and the party, creating employment opportunities at the regional level and Tsholetsa House, adds Lesole. For her part, Women’s Wing secretary Neo Maruapula, Serame is a visionary leader who is a dedicated member of the party. Maruapula adds that one of her strategic objectives and initiatives is to advocate for and promotion of economic empowerment programmes for women, young girls, and youth, to promote leadership opportunities for women and to support the development of promising candidates for these roles.
“She strongly believes in political women leadership. Since she took over the leadership, she has been advocating internally that women must be included in leadership positions of the party and their representations must increase. “One of her roadmaps is that the wing must train women for them to have confidence to stand for both Parliament and council positions. So far, those workshops are already on the party’s calendar,” she said in an interview. Maruapula had been pleading with women to contest for party primary elections geared and also pleaded with women to activate the party’s recruitment drive.
Furthermore, she said during Serame’s leadership, the wing had introduced clothing brands for women, pregnant ones and their babies for the first time.
“This is one of the strategies to lure women to the party. At least women can define themselves better through clothing. Again, she had a workshop inviting different medical doctors to check women regarding health issues, which was commendable for party women,” she said.