Former Botswana National Front (BNF) legislator for Letlhakeng East, Gordon Mokgwathi has vowed to snatch back the constituency he lost to Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) member Liakat Kablay by 25 votes in the 2009 general elections.
In 2004 Mokgwathi snatched the same constituency from Boometswe Mokgothu, a Botswana Democratic Party member.
“The constituency is wide though I cannot be precise kilometers wise. With the current add-ons from Lentsweletau constituency, it reaches far places-beyond farms that make boundaries between Kweneng and Central Districts,” said Mokgwathi in an interview.
Mokgwathi said it is trailing behind all other constituencies as it is the least developed in the whole country; be it academic performance, health or any social or economic status.
“It has the highest number of people living below poverty datum line. Furthermore, there are no economic injection activities in place in the constituency. People there depend on government handouts for survival,” he said, adding that this has given the constituents such a dependency syndrome that it is difficult to change their mindset.
He said this led to his loss of the constituency in the past general elections.
“While some said they were punishing me through ballot, for undisclosed misdemeanor. Some just do not want to change their mindset. Motivating them to learn new life skills and rise from the poverty conditions that they are living in is torture to them. But I can assure you some have shown regret for their past actions (for not casting their votes for him),” he said.
Quizzed on the challenges he foresee in reclaiming his former ┬áconstituency, which will be contested for during this year’s general elections as Letlhakeng- Lephepe, he said many in the former Letlhakeng east ÔÇôbefore add-ons have given up on the BDP candidate.
“He is a jack of all trades and master of none. He always assures people that he will come back to them whenever they enquire about provisions or amenities like clinics. He never comes to give feed-back. They have now realised that my approach of referring them to relevant authorities where service should be provided by the municipal government is the best way. They get empowered as they know where they can get help; thus understanding the structures of governance,” he said.
He agrees with his fellow UDC politicians that rigging of elections is eminent. His suspicion is ┬áthat the delay in the ┬árelease of voters roll will pave way for voters’ trafficking in the country.
