President Duma Boko has reiterated the government’s unwavering commitment to the youth during his address at the Alliance for Progressives (AP) elective congress held in Serowe yesterday. The AP is a member party of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) coalition.
Boko dismissed claims that the government has sidelined the youth, stating that leadership is actively working to build a Botswana that young people can proudly identify with. “Government is holding it together for the youth,” he said. “We are summoning the best attributes and deep domain expertise in this country to create a new Botswana that the youth can own up to.”
The UDC leader praised the AP’s steady growth within the coalition, noting its progression from having a single Member of Parliament to now boasting seven. He urged members to deepen their commitment to the movement’s founding values such as equality and justice for all.
In an apparent gesture to Botswana’s student community, Boko hinted at an upcoming increase in student living allowances, reaffirming that the coalition is attuned to their needs. “We are their servants; at all times we must stay humble,” he said. “There is always that residual possibility, however small, that we are supposed to serve others—even when it challenges what we hold up to.”
He encouraged the youth not to be shaped by conformity but by a sharper, more critical outlook on society. Boko decried the state of public infrastructure and service delivery, highlighting underfunded schools, poorly maintained facilities, and medicine shortages in clinics and hospitals.
“Schools were built without investment and no plan for their maintenance,” Boko stated. “This is the reality we have inherited. It is a crumbling society, though described as an upper-class one. We must ask ourselves where we ought to be.”
He ended his address by calling on AP members to reflect on the meaning of progressivism, urging them to align their actions with the party’s core values in pursuit of a better Botswana.
