Ntuane�s onslaught against BCP continues
Bame Piet | Thursday August 21, 2014 12:03
In recent weeks, Ntuane has railed against the opposition party accusing it of being a tribalist grouping unworthy of participating in elections. His remarks follow the BCP’s repeated attempts to secure more public representation of minority tribes through various avenues.
Speaking at Daniel Kwelagobe’s launch in Molepolole over the weekend, Ntuane charged that the BCP was bent on fuelling tribal divisions in the country.
“We are just two years away from celebrating our silver jubilee and are we going to allow some people to divide us along tribal lines? We should identify ourselves first as Batswana and not along any ethnic grouping,” Ntuane told the hundreds who came to “DK”s launch.
Ntuane described Kwelagobe as a nationalist “who believes in the best interests of Batswana as a nation” urging democrats not to identify themselves along ethnic lines.
Three weeks earlier, when launching Odirile Motlhale in Ramotswa, Ntuane made similar statements, saying the BCP should not be trusted, “as it was more concerned with dividing the nation along tribal lines”.
Before the dissolution of Parliament recently, Ntuane opposed a motion by the BCP’s legislator for Selebi-Phikwe West and its former president, Gilson Saleshando, who had sought the introduction of news bulletins in additional indigenous languages to cater for other tribes in the country.
The House rejected the motion, which had also sought to place a January 15, 2015 ultimatum for government to have started the broadcasts.
In opposing the motion, Ntuane stated that over the years he had closely observed the BCP and its proposals, such as mother-tongue teaching in primary schools and the recognition of other languages.
Ntuane warned that should the motion be allowed to pass, the BCP was likely to make more demands along tribal lines.
“As a nationalist I consider it my duty to warn our people to oppose tribalism and any signs of its emergence,” Ntuane told Mmegi yesterday.
“Anyone who subscribes to nationalist values must not be apologetic when it comes to opposing tribalism.
“That’s what I have been doing and if you follow my debates in Parliament through the years, you will note that one of the key planks of my legislative agenda is nation-building in terms of the founding values of the Republic.”
The BCP was unavailable for comment yesterday as its spokesperson, Taolo Lucas, neither responded nor returned telephone calls and texts.