07 Jul 2019

Despite being endowed with abundant natural and human resources, Botswana is not doing better economically than countries that have little or no such endowments.

Alliance for Progressives (AP) president, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe said this when launching Francistown South parliamentary candidate and AP vice president, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi on July 6.

He said countries used their competitive advantages to innovate and grow their economies, in the process creating employment.

Mr Gaolathe said the key to economic development in other countries was the quality of leadership.

Botswana, he highlighted, was facing a plethora of economic challenges due to a leadership deficit. Under an AP government, Mr Gaolathe said Batswana would benefit from a leadership concerned with providing them with dignified jobs, quality education and a workforce with vocational skills.

He urged the electorates in Francistown South to vote for Mr Mmolotsi and his team of councillors since heir party was the only one that could deliver education, which could inculcate a culture of self-belief.

With the abundant and untapped solar, he said AP would invest heavily in solar energy to drive the green economy .

“We are presenting you with leaders who have vowed to not only fight but eradicate corruption. Of all MPs in Parliament, Mr Mmolotsi has distinguished himself by advocating for issues that impact on the livelihoods of not only his constituents, but the rest of Batswana,” he said.

Alliance for Progressives secretary general, Dr Phenyo Butale said AP was the only party that could deliver Batswana from the yoke of poverty and declining health care.

He praised Mr Mmolotsi for sacrificing his personal desires to serving his constituents at a time when it was not fashionable to do so.

He noted that the Francistown South legislator had come up with effective interventions in the National Assembly, which proved that he was a visionary leader.

Consequently, he urged them to do themselves a favor by returning the legislator to Parliament so that he could continue his outstanding work of representing Batswana.

He noted that AP was the only party whose focus was not the politics of personal attacks, but rather of service delivery.

An advisor to the AP president, Dr Margaret Nasha, informed voters in Francistown South that as a party, they wanted to maintain integrity in everything they did.

She explained that AP would  not debase itself by forming an alliance with any party, adding that the first thing that an AP government would do in the first 100 days would be to review the constitution.

Furthermore, she intimated that they would also form an anti-corruption commission, which would deal with corruption that was impoverishing Batswana.

On other issues, Dr Nasha explained that Alliance for Progressives believed in transparency and would introduce live parliamentary debates so that Batswana could judge the performance of MPs for themselves.

The infrastructure for doing this, she stated, was already in place and only required a few additional resources to be functional.

For his part, Mr Mmolotsi urged the electorates to put their trust in the AP government if they wanted to live dignified lives.

He explained that if voted into government, AP would invest in quality health care and education which would be accessible to both the rich and poor.

“As Alliance for Progressives we believe that every citizen should be allocated a residential plot and if you give us the mandate in October, we will make good on our promises.

We are not going to promise you things that are unrealistic but we promise to make conditions conducive for every Motswana to enjoy the benefits that accrue from our natural resources,” the Francistown South legislator highlighted. ENDS