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Botswana: UB SRC President Rejects Political Policy
Real estate news By Mmegi
web 23 October 2007
The University of Botswana Student Representative Council is aware of a recently released draft policy on political participation of staff and students. Before even looking at the substantives of this document, we are constrained to condemn the way the policy is seemingly being 'imposed' on the University of Botswana community, particularly University of Botswana students. It is an elementary rule and practice that if a change is to be introduced, which change has an adverse effect on people, there must not only be consultation with the people but also a consequent consideration of their views.
The University of Botswana SRC is the official organ, of the student body. It represents students' interests, and therefore ensures that there is student input in the University of Botswana government and management. But lo and behold, when this recent policy was drafted and subsequently released, the students were not at any stage been engaged. I must say that I learnt of this through the grape vine, and subsequently confirmed. If this is a cake, then the icing is the fact that even after the draft policy was released, the SRC and the students were not given a copy, or even formal opportunity to react to same, yet the document has been out for over a month. On this basis, we argue that we are justified in not only rejecting the draft policy, but also requesting it to be discarded.
This policy, if approved, would completely change the political landscape here at the UB. Yet the students, who will be most affected, are expected to just accept this as another as another oppression tool by the University Management. In the premises, this side-lining of students and the SRC is so outrageous in its defiance of logic and the basic fundamentals of a democracy. But what is in the Daft Policy? I confine myself to issues affecting students, being the head of the student body. The policy prohibits representatives of political parties to be involved in student politics.
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