15 Oct 2019

Gaborone South constituency parliamentary candidates have promised constituents better infrastructure, decent and affordable accommodation, employment creation and economic growth if voted in power.

The four hopefuls vying for the Gaborone South constituency are Mr Oabile Mafunga of Alliance for Progressives (AP), Mr Meshack Mthimkhulu of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD)’s Ms Bagaise Mabilo and Mr Nelson Ramaotwana of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) .

In his pledge for votes during a Radio Botswana Parliamentary debate, BDP’s Mr Mthimkhulu promised constituents decent accommodation with affordable rentals.

He said he would advocate for the review of Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) Act which would mandate and obligate the corporation to build decent and affordable houses for Batswana.

He also said he would advocate for a rent control act to ensure reasonable rental prices to Batswana.

Mr Mthimkhulu also said his party was transforming economy of the country.

He said they would transform the tourism sector among others and allow Batswana to be active participants in the tourism sector.

AP’s Mr Mafunga said his party wanted to promote progress of all and a new Botswana.

Mr Mafunga indicated that once in power they would fight corruption, encourage and promote transparency as well as accountability.

Mr Mafunga further added that unemployment rate was high in Gaborone South which led to poverty.

In addition, he promised to deliver better drainage system in the area by building storm water drainage.

Mr Mafunga said his party would expedite plot allocation in the constituency to address shortage of accommodation.

Ms Mabilo of BMD urged constituents to vote for her saying her party promised creation of jobs and economic growth.

She indicated that the available programs were only for a specific group and those not employed and not in the specified groups could not benefit from the programs.

She therefore said her party would avail programs for the unemployed.

She also decried poor infrastructure and lack of recreational parks and highlighted the importance of recreational parks in the constituency.

Furthermore, Ms Mabilo said people living with disabilities in the constituency did not have proper infrastructure support, stating that her party would provide such services to the people living with disabilities to improve their daily lives.

For his part, UDC’s Mr Ramaotwana said his party called for employment, education and better health for all.

He said the high rate of unemployment in Botswana as well as in the constituency was due to mismatch of skills.

Therefore, he said his party would enforce free and compulsory education for all from nursery school to Doctoral level.

In addition, he said once voted into power the UDC would set a Fourth Industrial Revolution Presidential Task Team which would review the curriculum to align it with the current technology trends.

He said the UDC  would provide faster broadband internet in households as well as schools. ENDS