02 Oct 2019

Serowe North parliamentary candidates focused their debate on developing the agricultural sector, employment creation and infrastructural development.

Alliance for Progressive (AP) candidate Mr Ishmael Selebogo said that AP would retrain and retool the youth who are skilled and unemployed to enable them to participate meaningfully in the development of the country and reduce the high unemployment rate.

Mr Selebogo said his party would also do away with the system of automatic promotion and instill a desire to learn among learners.

He said there was a great potential for agriculture in the country and Batswana could be self-sufficient and reduce food imports. He said the AP would invest more on research to increase self-sufficiency in food production.

Mr Selebogo urged the voters to vote for him, promising that he would focus on modern agriculture. He also said he would also make sure that the roads in the constituency were developed for easy transportation of farm produce.

He said AP would advocate for the independence of DIS and DCEC and ensure that they were properly resourced so that they could combat corruption and serve without interference.

Mr Kgotla Autlwetse of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) said his party had proved that it could be trusted because it had delivred many developments for Batswana.

He said many infrastructural developments like roads, water, electricity and medical services were brought by BDP.

He pleaded with the electorates to vote for his party to continue getting more developments.

He said should he win the parliamentary seat, he would ensure that his constituency got the development that it deserved.

Mr Autlwetse said Serowe North constituency had many small villages and most of the people in his constituency were subsistence farmers. He said with the P10 million constituency development fund the drilling and equipping of boreholes had already started. He said the drilling of boreholes was in line with government’s efforts to help ignite farmers into producing food.

He told the electorates that the next project would be the improvement of the roads that connect villages to the lands where the subsistence farmers were.

Mr Autlwetse also said the BDP encouraged Batswana to start up their own businesses from home to improve their lives.

For his part, Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) candidate Mr Baratiwa Matheothe said that he would help the youth in Serule and Gojwane to start projects because there was a lot of clay soil in the area that can be used to mould bricks and make clay pots.

He said another project that he would advocate for is the uranium mine operation at Serule.  He said Uranium could produce cheap electricity.

Mr Matheothe said he would also focus on encouraging the constituents to engage in tourism business because Topisi was famous of horse racing.

Mr Keaoboka Kgano of the UDC said his party would create 100 000 jobs within 12 months and reduce youth unemployment.

He said the UDC would provide P1 500 per month as old age pension and had committed to a living wage of P3 000 per month.

He said that if voted into power his party would make some changes in the Ipelegeng programme so that it could create more decent jobs. He also said he would ensure Serule and Gojwane get potable water.

An Independent candidate Mr Ramadeluka Seretse said his focus would be on bringing motions that could benefit Batswana to Parliament. He said if voted he would advocate for the developments of the constituency.

Mr Seretse said that there was a need to encourage Batswana to engage in subsistence farming because a lot of them owned land. He said there was also a need to come up with the laws that could protect subsistence farmers.

Mr Seretse said he would also encourage Batswana to produce food and  boost the economy of the country. ENDs