Africa-Press – Botswana. Members of MISA Botswana will on Saturday elect a new board to run the association’s affairs.
MISA Botswana held its annual general meeting last year September where it was resolved to postpone the national governing council elections for three months.
During the three months, the council was mandated to share with members the guidelines pertaining to the nomination of candidates, the voter’s roll and the electoral college.
During the September meeting there were heated arguments over the participation of a candidate who was an office holder in one of the local political parties.
MISA regional director, Mr Tabani Moyo said it was an ‘abomination’, emphasising that office holders in political parties could not be members of the association’s national governing council.
This week one of the prospective candidates, Mr Thomas Nkhoma of ‘Team Restoration’ explained his team’s pledges and promises ahead of the elections.
Mr Nkhoma, who has 26 years of experience in the field, is eyeing the position of chairperson and his team comprises Ms Tshireletso Stoffel of Radio Botswana who is vying for the vice chairperson post.
Other team members are Mr Leatile Mmutle of Duma FM as secretary, Ms Tsaone Basimanebotlhe of Mmegi as treasurer and Mr Aubrey Maswabi of BOPA, Mr Ketumile Ramatiti of Weekend Post,
Ms Sharon Mathala of Mmegi, Mr Nicholas Mokwena of the Guardian & Midweek Sun and Mr Bakang Tiro of the Patriot on Sunday as additional members.
Mr Nkhoma said their mission was to re-energise MISA Botswana and to turn it into a dignified organisation for journalists.
He also said they would advocate for press freedom through campaigns, media visibility, training and outreach programmes.
“Working as a fragmented sector won’t help us and we must work as one team and speak with one voice so that when we speak about press freedom and free speech we become better understood by all sectors,” he said.
Mr Nkhoma also said they would source scholarships for media practitioners to enable them to be up to date with developments within the profession.
Mr Nkhoma said his team would also restore the integrity of MISA Botswana awards, noting the awards were held recently but the majority of journalists did not know about them.
He added that they would re-establish partnerships and links with like-minded organisations and press freedom entities, noting that journalists were part of the human rights movement.
He also said they would strive to popularise developmental news.
Meanwhile, in the opposing camp of Team Integrity is Mr Tefo Pheage, who has over 10 years experience in the field and has also served as a member of the MISA board.
Mr Pheage is campaigning for the position of chairperson has teamed up with Ms Angela Mdlalane of Botswana Television as vice chairperson, Mr Victor Baatweng of the Sunday Standard as secretary, Ms Amantle Serojane of Business Weekly as treasurer and Mr Thuso Motshegwe of Yarona FM, Mr Alfred Masokola of Weekend Post, Ms Rorisang Mogobye of Gabs FM and Ms Oratile Kefitlhile of Yarona FM as additional members.
Mr Pheage said his team would bring stability, continuity and institutional memory. He said his team comprised new entrants into the sector who had fresh ideas to take the organisation to greater heights.
Mr Pheage said the time was opportune to have high-level interactions through the association with all media institutions that played a part in the industry.
He said they were democratic institutions, saying his team aimed to ensure media democracy and press freedom were safeguarded .
He said they would serve the interests of journalists and protect their rights, adding that his team was concerned about media institutions that were becoming redundant.
Furthermore, he noted that there was a lack of press freedom among journalists across the nation, saying part of the reason why press freedom was compromised was because media practitioners were not paid attractive salaries.
He, however, said MISA did not advocate for the payment of journalists and that it was the mandate of the Botswana Media Association Union (BOMAU).
Mr Pheage noted that journalists faced external influence which jeopardised quality and ethical reporting.
Moreover, he said they would call on government to free state journalists from controlled reporting and to focus on representing the masses.
He said government had the best journalists but were denied the freedom to practice without outside control.
Mr Pheage said another key goal would be to forge relations with law enforcement officers in order to iron out issues that impede journalists from covering events with ease and without the fear of prosecution.
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