Botswana Speaks blog

The South East Mini Launch took place on the 16^th April 2013, at Ramotswa Emmanuel Community Hall in Ramotswa. The Leadership that was present in the mini launch included the Member of Parliament, Hon. Odirile Motlhale, Dikgosi, VDC Secretary and Representatives from various schools.  The youth were also present from the various wards of the constituency.  In total 60 people attended this mini launch of the Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative.

In his welcome remarks, the Member of Parliament, Honourable Odirile Motlhale informed the constituents that the Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative is now accessible through www.botswanaspeaks.org.  He further informed them that the purpose of the platform was to improve the communication between him as a Member of Parliament and the constituents.  He further said that the platform does not in any way replace the Kgotla system but rather act as a supplementary to the existing system that has been used to raise issues as well as to comment on any bills and pieces of legislation and motions that are being discussed in Parliament.

Caption: Hon. Odirile Motlhale

Botswana Speaks got 200 likes on facebook! Thank you all for your support!

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Mmegi published yesterday an article on the fact that the Parliament of Botswana has launched the Botswana Speaks website, a pilot participatory initiative that will allow the public to interact with their elected representatives online and via Short Messasing System (sms).

Speaking at a press conference on Monday ahead of the launch South East South MP, who also chairs the Parliamentary Committee on Works, Transport and ICT, Odirile Motlhale said some of the objectives of the project are to get citizens better connected with their representatives and to give citizens opportunities to get involved with the national decision-making process.

"It will allow the public to participate in debates going on in Parliament. Say Parliament is debating a bill, the public will be able to comment on it using either the website or sms," Motlhale said.Motlhale said the project, which cost over P6 million, is part of Parliament's e-parliament strategy, which encourages the use of ICT to better serve electorates.

An article was published yesterday on Daily News announcing the launch of the platform and the training for MPs.
Four MPs, Mr Rayner Makosha, Mr Tawana Moremi, Mr Slumber Tsogwane and Mr Odirile Motlhale from the constituencies Nata/Gweta, Maun West,  Boteti North and South East South respectively as well as citizens from the constituencies will participate in the project. 

The chairperson of the Communications, Works, Transport and ICT committee in Parliament, Mr Odirile Motlhale said members of the public would be offered an opportunity to ask questions and request action from their MPs.
“We are going to have a paperless government, but an e-government,” Mr Makosha said.

Clich here to see a scan from the document published yesterday Daily-News-April-10-page-12.pdf

You come from Nata/Gweta, Boteti North, Maun West or South East South?

Use U-Speak to share an issue, an opinion or request information to your Member of Parliament. You can either submit an issue on the online platform or send it via SMS!

Botswana Speaks gives a chance to Members of Parliament from those four constituencies to receive input and to reply directly to you via the online platform or via SMS!

Constituency meetings are organised as part of the project in villages in Nata/Gweta, Boteti North, Maun West and South East South to discuss issues that concern you and that you want to share with your Member of Parliament. Find out when is the next constituency meetings close to you here.

You come from another constituency?

You can also be part of Botswana Speaks! Use Speak4Yourself to discuss, debate issues and legislation that is currently discussed in the Parliament. All Members of Parliament can participate to these debates and receive input from you!

Send us your comments and suggestions on the Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative platform: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Botswana Speaks got 100 likes on facebook! Thank you all for your support!

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The Parliament of Botswana, eGovlab at Stockholm University and Gov2u are happy to invite you to a Public Lecture on the Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative that will take place on April 10th, 2013 from 10:00 to 16:00 in the Library Auditorium at the University of Botswana, Gaborone.

No registration needed – Attendance free of charge.

The agenda will follow soon.

Should you have any questions or should you need any details, please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

See you in Gaborone!

Kgosi Kopano Mabona welcomed all to the meeting.

It was an honour to have in our midst the representative from Ntlo ya Dikgosi (NYD); Kgosi Oreagetse Machilidza, the area MP, Honourable Tsogwane, District Officer (Administration), Ms Precious Maoto and Honourable Councillors and Dikgosi from various villages in the Boteti North Constituency. We also had Village Extension Teams’ (VET) Chairpersons, Village Development Committees’ (VDC) Chairpersons and Secretaries, church representatives, as well as people from various support groups.

All local authorities were represented and they came in numbers, which was a very good sign to the team.

Ms Kgaoganang, who is also the Coordinator of the Botswana Speaks project, from Botswana Parliament presented the project to the local authorities.

The Nata/Gweta constituency consultative meeting was one of the four that were addressed simultaneously at the four constituencies where the project will be piloted. Save for a few invited authorities who could not make it to the meeting because of transport issues, the meeting qualifies to be described as having been a success. This is evident from the number who attended. The success was mostly due to the efforts of the Constituency Office Administrator who ensured that all concerned were invited as requested.

The Botswana Speaks team explained the project to the audience who appreciated the fact that their constituency was among those selected for the piloting of the project. The audience was taken through the various aspects of the initiative, including the following: Background , Objectives, The Botswana Speaks platform, Citizen participation and envisaged benefits of the initiative and Piloting timeline.

MAUN- Some village leaders in Maun have welcomed the “Botswana Speaks” parliamentary initiative which aims at facilitating communication between MPs and citizens.  They said the initiative would connect citizens better with their elected representatives, adding that it would also promote transparency and contribute to the growth of technology usage.  

Read full article published yesterday here:

DailyNews.pdf

Botswana, like many African countries, has a strong history of traditional tribal leadership and administration. Botswana Speaks, launched in September 2012, is an initiative that enables citizens in four constituencies (Maun West, Nata/Gweta, Boteti North and South East South) to share their views and policy concerns with their elected representatives through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

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On Wednesday 27 February, partners in the Parliament of Botswana, together with Gov2u, will present the initiative’s objectives to the local authorities of the four constituencies involved in the initiative– Maun West, Boteti North, Nata/Gweta and South East South.
The organization of local constituency meetings as part of the project as well as the online platform will be presented and discussed with the local authorities that depend on the Ministry of Local Government. 

Our leaflet has been updated. Check it out and tell us what you think!

Please find below the two versions of the leaflet (English and Setswana)

Leaflet_Setswana.pdf

Leaflet_English.pdf

First crucial stage successfully reached for the Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative with the development of the Alpha version of the online platform and its presentation to the Members of Parliament in Gaborone. Botswana, like many African countries, has a strong history of traditional tribal leadership and administration.  Botswana Speaks launched in October 2012 is a project that enables citizens, traditional leaders and local kgotla assemblies in four constituencies (Maun West, Nata/Gweta, Boteti North and South East South) to share their views and policy concerns with their elected representatives through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
On Tuesday 29 January, Vasilis Koulolias, Programme Director of the Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative, presented the Alpha version of the platform to the four Members of Parliament involved in the project: Hon. Makosha, Hon. Motlhale, Hon. Moremi and Hon. Tsogwane.
During the orientation seminar, the Members of Parliament discovered the online platform for the first time, discussed improvements and planned the next steps of the initiative. Their strong involvement and contributions to implementing this initiative reflect in the words of the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mrs. Barbara Dithapo, who showed her commitment during the orientation seminar organized for the staff of the Parliament on 30 January: “Botswana Speaks has to be successful.”
The two orientation seminars organized last week were a great success, with valuable feedback from Members of Parliament on the online platform and fruitful exchange of ideas on the organization and implementation of the pilot phase of the project to start in April 2013. The next couple of months will be intense for the Botswana Speaks partners: development of the final version of the online platform; training of constituency officers who will chair constituency meetings; organization of the constituency meetings where ongoing legislation will be discussed and debated in villages in the four constituencies involved.
“The originality of this project is that we do not aim at implementing an ICT tool without looking at the traditional role of chiefs in the local politics.  Rather, we want to incorporate these [ICT] tools within the traditions and not look at only online tools but the offline world as well,” says Kheira Belkacem, Assistant Programme Director.

Please find below the English and the translated versions of the press release:

Botswana_Speaks_Press_Release__TRANS.docx

Botswana_Speaks_Press_Release_English.docx

Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative was part of the TEDxYouth@ Tallinn "My way." Vasilis Koulolias is a founder of Gov2u, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the benefits of ICT to promoting popular democratic processes and giving a voice to citizens to be involved in the decision making processes of their governments. Gov2u now operates around the globe advising and assisting governments to modernize their legislative processes and enabling citizens to exercise their rights to democratic participation.

Gov2u is a Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative partner. Botswana Speaks Parliamentary Initiative aims at enabling governments to improve parliamentary efficiency, increase policy responsiveness and expand good governance through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Watch Vasilis Koulolias talk at TEDxYouth@Tallinn