The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Kagiso Molatlhegi has shied away from commenting on criticism that he and Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Kokorwe have not been impartial when presiding over parliamentary proceedings.
Addressing a press conference last week, Molatlhegi was mum when fielding questions from journalists who wanted to know whether he and Kokorwe will be leaving behind a good legacy or not.
“It will be unethical and morally unacceptable for me to talk about the legacy we have left behind as that is the responsibility of the Speakership to speak about. And as such I will not say anything about such,” he said.
There have been concerns that Molatlhegi and Kokorwe at times were not impartial as they favoured MPs from the ruling party to the chagrin of opposition MPs. Another burning issue was the delay to implement live broadcasting of Parliamentary proceedings.
When touring the country recently the Speaker talked about live broadcasts of national debates but nothing has happened thus far.
Molatlhegi defended the delay saying it was a process and not an event.
“The advent involves a lot of process and stakeholders and at the moment we are still consulting. A press conference similar of this kind will be called for the event,” the Deputy Speaker said during the press briefing without even hinting at a timeframe.
Contributing to debates in Parliament in one of the sessions recently the ruling Botswana Democratic Party legislator Phillip Makgalemele reminded Kokorwe to expedite live broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings saying this would set “a precedence of legacy during her tenure” something which she could be remembered with as her term comes to an end in 2019 after the national elections.
