08 Sep 2024

The Radio Botswana parliamentary candidates debate for Serowe South at Lady Khama Hall, saw three parties; Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) unpacking their  manifestos while Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) was yet to go through primary elections exercise to select its candidate for the general elections.

Botswana will hold general elections on October 30 to determine the composition of the 13th Parliament of Botswana as well as local councils across the country. Since the first election in 1965 under universal suffrage, the Botswana Democratic Party has held the majority of seats, without interruption, in the National Assembly and has thus governed for about 60 years.

BDP prospective parliamentary candidate, Mr Lesedi Phuthego said the national mindset change campaign that was officially launched by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi in Zutshwa, July 20, was destined to push the country to greater heights. He said an open mindset encouraged farmers to embrace innovation and new technologies that would optimise output in agriculture, thus saying his party deserved to be re-elected into power.

He said attracting and keeping young people happy in food production meant supplying more modern and affordable farming tools and equipment, which was catered for through Thuo Letlotlo and Temo Letlotlo.

Mr  Phuthego said a psychological shift in the way people did things was paramount, hence his party preached for the course.

He said he was well versed with politics and development issues and once given the opportunity to lead the constituency, his area of focus, among other things would be youth development through coming up with initiatives that would ensure the youth became better versions of themselves.

He described himself as a well-oiled machine in economic issues and human development, arguing that he deserved the opportunity to be elected into power so as to change people’s lives for the better.

Furthermore, he said he would push academic results to desirable levels in the constituency as well as make MP’s office accessible to the public to facilitate errands that might change the economic status of constituents. He argued that his party had led Botswana’s transformation from a traditional low-income economy mainly based on agriculture to an upper middle-income status that was resource based.

BCP Parliamentary hopeful, Mr Gerald Mpe said he was proficient in youth development and described himself as a researcher who could help change the economic landscape of constituents through research. He said if elected into power, he would advocate for developments and provision of better services in the area.

He said drains were in an appalling state in the constituency, which situation was both an eyesore and a health hazard.

In addition, he said he would improve the school feeding plan at schools to ehance academic performance and would also come up with initiatives that would refine security and safety in the area. Mr Mpe said buildings where people accessed services were also in a bad state and if elected into power he would advocate for their maintenance.

He said he would fight poverty head-on if elected into power; pointing that some girls bunked school during their period days due to the fact that they could not afford sanitary pads.

He said if voted into power, his party would come up with a school programme to assist girls with sanitary pads. “Setswana sa re mosadi ke thari ya setshaba,” he said, meaning that women were the backbone of the nation, therefore needed care and support. Mr Mpe said meat should not be exported in its raw form, arguing that by-products should be utilised in Botswana to create jobs for Batswana. He said people were not staying at ploughing fields for lack of proper infrastructure in production zones.

Therefore, he said his ambition was to advocate for infrastructure in production zones, arguing that such would boost food security in the country.

UDC parliamentary aspirant, Mr Moremi Mareka expressed the need to close corruption loopholes, which compromised good services and products. He said corruption bred poor service delivery, adding that fighting corruption would mean better economic performance because a lot of money might be lost through corruption. He said corruption had potential to cripple the economy.

Furthermore, he said UDC would diversify the economy and create jobs, pointing that the country was exporting jobs to other countries along with raw materials. He said in him all sectors were represented and therefore sending him to Parliament was tremendous advantage.

He said schools were in a bad state and if elected into power he would advocate for their maintenance. He said there was need for borehole installation in the constituency at ploughing fields.

Mr Mareka said the area needed an innovative leader who would come up with initiatives to counteract problems bedevilling the area. He said Serowe South was a gateway to tourist destinations and therefore needed a leader who would take advantage of that and come up with programmes that would ensure full utilisation of natural resources to create jobs as well as to inject money into the constituency. ENDS