Ahead of the general elections billed for next week Wednesday, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) President, Dumelang Saleshando has revealed his first 100 days in office plan should he assume power.
During a press briefing held on Wednesday, Saleshando outlined four key pillars of his plan which emphasises on good governance and ethical leadership: being- accountability, transparency, fairness, and integrity. He explained that these principles aim to lay the groundwork for a government focused on people and with a commitment to ethical leadership that prioritises the country’s needs.
Saleshando promised that his government would make accountability a central tenet, implementing strict measures to hold public officials accountable for their actions. He also assured greater transparency, ensuring that government operations would be open to public scrutiny to build trust.
“Integrity will be key to my administration,” Saleshando said vowing to uphold the highest ethical standards in all government activities. He reiterated his readiness to lead, assuring that from the day of his inauguration, the BCP led administration will provide ethical and competent governance.
Fairness will guide his policy decisions, with an emphasis on equality and justice for all. The BCP leader criticized the recently introduced development manager model claiming it legitimizes corruption informing the business community that government tenders will be allocated transparently.
He also announced plans to establish a judicial commission to tackle corruption at its roots level. Saleshando emphasized that within his first 100 days in office, laws regarding the disclosure of assets and liabilities would be amended to make the registers accessible to the public.
“It doesn’t make sense to disclose liabilities but keep them secret from the public. People should know what I bring into office and what I acquire over five years to see if it matches my salary,” Saleshando said.
Although Saleshando intended to declare his assets on Wednesday, delays in the process by the Ethics and Integrity Directorate prevented him from doing so. The asset declaration system requires specified categories of persons to make periodic declarations of their interests, income, assets and liabilities. The Directorate is thus responsible for the safe custody of the declarations for monitoring purposes.
Meanwhile, Saleshando has vowed to cut unnecessary expenses by reducing the size of cabinet as a cost-saving measure. He also announced plans to eliminate constituency and ward allowances for the president, specially elected members of parliament, and specially elected councilors.
Furthermore, The Maun North parliamentary candidate emphasized that they will develop roadmaps for accelerating job creation and revitalising the health and education systems through presidential summits.
