09 Sep 2024

Mmadinare constituency is set to become a battleground for five political parties with each seeking to win the seat during the general election billed for October 30.

Political parties vying for the constituency include the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP).

During a heated radio debate at Mmadinare Senior Secondary School recently, the five prospective candidates unanimously agreed that though some strides had been made to develop the constituency, there was need to do more, particularly in infrastructure development.

Representing BCP, Mr Sennye Obuseng contended that Mmadinare constituency was lagging behind in terms of developments and decried poor road infrastructure, mainly internal roads. He urged Batswana to vote for him so that he could advocate for tarred roads, streetlights and reliable water for Mmadinare. Mr Obuseng said BCP was the only party with good programmes that can take out Batswana from poverty, adding the party promoted good democratic governance as well as standard based education, among others.

BDP’s Dr Kefentse Mzwinila said his party had made efforts to develop Mmadinare constituency citing Phikwe-Serule Water Transfer Scheme where government connected Damochujenaa, Serule, Gojwane, Moreomabele, Topisi and part of Mmadinare to Letsibogo Dam, adding that government went further to improve the water situation in Tobane and Sefhophe.

He said BDP was in a better position to transform the lives of communities in the constituency and should be given another chance to bring more developments.

He said he was also going to ensure that land allocations were done so that constituents had access to land and other social amenities, including the upgrading of clinics.

“If given a chance to represent the constituency in Parliament, I am going to make a follow up on ongoing projects and ensure that they are completed on time and on budget, including the mini stadium project, library, police station and access roads and also ensure implementation of projects in the National Development Plan 12,” he said. Mr Peter Bothman of BMD, said given the chance to represent Mmadinare, his party would promote transparency in decision making.

He added that he would further lobby for land allocation to be expedited in the constituency.

Mr Bothman also said given the chance, he would fight for the rights of the people and ensured that they also enjoyed government programmes aimed at improving food security such as Temo Letlotlo. BPF’s Mr Jacob Mosimanyana also emphasised on infrastructure development and thus emphasised the need for the establishment of Mmadinare sub-district council with an independent budget from Bobonong District Council.

He said Mmadinare constituency was vast and had high population hence deserved a sub-district to drive developments in the constituency such as streetlights, roads, permanent bridges and police stations.

Mr Mosimanyana said he was the better candidate to take Mmadinare forward because he was hands on in bringing developments to the village, having designed the modern kgotla structure for Mmadinare.

UDC’s Mr Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said his party was the only one with solutions for Mmadinare, thus urged the people of Mmadinare to vote for him in order to experience positive change.

He said Batswana had been hit hard by unemployment and Mmadinare was no exception.

Mr Motshegwa said the closure of the BCL mine exacerbated poverty in the area because Mmadinare benefited a lot from the mine.

“Because of these economic hardships, the local economy of Mmadinare is growing at a snail pace. Employment creation is at the top of the UDC manifesto,” he said. ends