17 Oct 2024

With less than half a month left before the general elections, political parties continue to use all avenues available to try and win the electorate to their side, and the Radio Botswana debate for Gaborone Bonnington North constituency on Wednesday, was no exception.

Candidates of the five political parties vying for the constituency, promised to address poor internal roads, lack of streetlights, poor wastewater drainage system, a need for more heath facilities in the area.

Being the first to roll the ball, Botswana Congress Party’s Rev. Dr Prince Dibeela said that poor internal roads in the constituency as well as poor street-lighting, coupled with a high rate of unemployment contributed to the high crime rate in the area. He also decried shortage of health facilities in the constituency.

“Vast as the constituency is, we only have two clinics being the Phase II and the Block 8 clinics, and even these two lack basic medicines,” he said.

Rev. Dr Dibeela said Phase II clinic had been operating without a pharmacist for the past three years. He also indicated that schools in the area were performing poorly due to low morale among teachers because issues of their welfare such as proper accommodation were ignored.

Rev. Dr Dibeela also said the constituency had many vacant spaces which it could utilise to its benefit, citing as an example creation of a tourism business park in Block 8.

He also said better living conditions that his party was  promising Batswana was not just a pipe dream as it could be achieved through value chaining most resources like beef, diamonds and soda ash. Botswana Democratic Party’s Ms Annah Mokgethi said she had already made headway in addressing issues that her opponents wanted to bargain with.

“There is already street lighting going on, internal roads are being paved and the storm water drainage system is in the Transitional National Development Plan and will be implemented through the constituency community projects.

"So if you give me another term there will be continuity as I am already acting on these challenges,” she said.

Ms Mokgethi also said that the constituency had suffered enough under the opposition, therefore the electorate should not risk voting it back. On crime, she said the city police had increased visibility in the area, which had lowered the crime rate.

Botswana Movement for Democracy’s Mr Donald Motsumi, who is also the party vice president, said the constituency contributed significantly to the national unemployment rate of 34.4 per cent. He also called for an additional police station as the one serving the area was too far, leading to slow response to reports.

He cautioned the electorate that should they make the mistake of denying him a vote, they would have condemned themselves to another five years of poor representation.

Botswana Patriotic Front’s Mr Ookeditse Malesu said his priority if elected would be to ensure the welfare of retired civil servants was taken care of. He said he was right man to tackle poverty in the area, which he argued was high.

“Our manifesto has all the answers to your problems such as better safety nets, direct election of the president and amendment of the Electoral Act as well as separation of powers in the three arms of government,” he said.

He accused the ruling party of being just talk and no action. For her part, Umbrella for Democratic Change’s Ms Maipelo Mophuting  expressed concern about exploitation of the marginalised people, whom she said were being paid slave wages.

She also decried what she said was a regress in education and heath sectors, which she said her party long condemned.

Ms Mophuting said her party had long talked about economic diversification, which she said could be coming in handy in the current times of low diamond sales, and that diversification should also be in other sectors like sport and the creative arts.

“There is also a need to create companies co-owned by government and the private sector in the mould of Debswana in other sectors of the economy, such as tourism,” she said. ENDS