27 Aug 2024

The four parliamentary prospective candidates vying for Maun West shared their party’s policies and ideas to electorate during the Radio Botswana Debate programme held at Maun Senior Secondary School.

The candidates are,  incumbent Ngami constituency area MP, Mr Caterpillar Hikuama of Botswana Congress Party (BCP), former MP, Mr Thato Kwerepe of Botswana Democratic Party, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)’s Mr Tiego Mpho, and Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD)’s Mr Alexander Heii.

Topical issues that dominated the debate included human- wildlife conflict, infrastructure development, acute water shortage, education, unemployment and severe drought experienced in the district.

All prospective candidates promised to improve the living standards of voters when voted into power in October this year. UDC candidate, Mr Mpho, said his party would ensure the  constitution  prioritised the human rights based approach to development.

By applying the approach, he said, the UDC would enable them to enhance effectiveness of their work by focusing on equality, accountability, justice and transparency as the core of human development results.

To better the communities livelihood, Mr Mpho said, they intended to pay decent living wages, create 450 000 to 500 000 jobs in the first five years and also decrease utilities rates by 30 per cent.

He said water and electricity were basic rights that all had to enjoy. Therefore, he said UDC would also ensure there was a universal health insurance in which government would pay 90 per cent of medication prescribed to a patient.

The current shortage of drugs in health facilities, according to Mr Mpho had forced some people to buy from private pharmacies, saying it was costly.

Concerning human-wildlice conlict, Mr Mpho said UDC would  provide monetary compensation equivalent to damages caused by wild animals adding that adoption of commodity based trade and herding for health were some of the interventions that could help to mitigate drought effects on the farming community.

The BMD candidate, Mr Heii, also stressed the need to formulate laws that prioritised human rights and addressed their people’s challenges. North West region, he said, was prone to drought and yet it had a high population of cattle and wildlife noting that if elected,  his party would formulate a law that would introduce a drought relief fund.

The fund, he said, would provide the much needed assistance to the affected communities as well as provide immediate relief to farmers experiencing difficulties.

“MPs should focus much on formulating laws and policies that aim to better the lives of Batswana and not on praising challenges and promising development projects that are not planned for,” he added.

Mr Heii emphasised the importance of motivating youngsters to venture into agricultural activities at an early age, so that they grow understanding agriculture production in enhancing food security.

The BCP’s Mr Hikuama shared that his party was the only one that was organised and ready to lead the country, noting that their mandate was to foster inclusive growth for all, promoting social justice and ensuring good governance.

He said it was important to adddress  issues such as declining education, drought, unemployment, infrastructure development. He assured voters that the BCP manifesto would  focus on building an economy that works for all, citing that they wanted to see the communities being able to sustain their lives as well as having decent shelter because they believe there should be a policy that calls for the right to shelter.

He also said once BCP was into power, they would prioritise education by delivering first rate education that equipped people with the skills sets to drive socioeconomic change now and in the future.

“Our manifesto also prioritises education sector, preaches decent jobs, decent lives and we believe that is achievable when one is educated. We believe that education should be compulsory and accessible to all children,” he added.

Mr Hikuama said government had neglected the region particularly in addressing the issue of human-wildlife conflict.

Additionally, he said drought  also affected the region and suggested that government should provide farmers with boreholes  in the wildlife habitats and in areas where farmers could relocate.

For his part, Mr Kwerepe of the ruling BDP told voters that the government was committed to addressing issues faced by the communities. He cited the issue of water shortage and said efforts were ongoing to ensure they enjoy potable water.

He admitted that the water situation had been a long standing problem but stated that government was undertaking some projects to end the water woes.

One mega project is the ongoing Maun Phase II Water Supply and Sanitation project aimed to bring water supply security and improve sanitation services in Maun and its outlying satellite villages.

On the issue of drought, he said, government had implemented some relief interventions to reduce its drought effects. He urged residents  residents to give him a chance to complete other pending projects such as construction of service centre and establishment of Qhorotsha settlement.

Mr Kwerepe said the government prioritised the education system saying some policies had been revised  with the  aim to improve the sector.  He cited the introduction of the multiple pathway approach which allowed learners to combine general education with vocational training. ENDS