In his debut response to the address, the new Leader of Opposition (LoO) Duma Gideon Boko and his lieutenants in Botswana’s eleventh parliament have the ground running with Boko urging and challenging all legislators across the political divide to attain and maintain a poise and manner that makes it worthwhile to refer to them as “Honourable.”
He emphasized that an honourable character and disposition demands of each one of them to break free from the frozen crust of blind loyalty to persons however powerful they may appear to be. He was clearly referring to the president. The Leader of Opposition said the title of “Honourable” demands that they act justly regardless of the artificial boundaries of political affiliation. Striving to speak the truth and taking the nation in their confidence, he said was a defining feature. Boko further challenged and implored the members of the 11th Parliament to rescue the word “Honourable” from the clutches of sycophancy, from the resigned, crude and uncritical endorsement of positions held by the executive.
“I challenge the members of this 11th Parliament, especially on the other side, to learn to say no to executive tyranny”. He explained that members on his side of the aisle were nursing a species of suspicion and skepticism regarding the probity and ability of the speaker and her deputy to act fairly in the conduct of the proceedings of the House.
“I record here and now the assurances you and your Deputy have given me, that you will act most fairly and justly in executing the duties of your offices. I state these issues openly and formally in order to commit you once again to those strenuous assurances and hold you publicly to them. I state them in order to also afford you an opportunity to silence your critics and prove them wrong. What a pleasant surprise that would be”, said Boko, requesting the Speaker to not disappoint the nation. “Permit while still on this quest to cleanse the word Honourable of all improper accretions, to express our gravest disappointment with the manner in which the Executive has handled the issue of specially nominated Councilors and Members of Parliament.
Once again the ruling party has exploited this dispensation to reward proven failures and rejects of the electoral process. It has used this dispensation to dilute and undermine the outcome of the recent elections. I must record the indignant rage felt by us in the opposition and indeed the scornful resentment citizens feel at this disgraceful conduct. “There is nothing honourable about the conduct of the Executive in this regard. To force a proper debate on this matter the Member for Francistown South, Honourable Wynter Mmolotsi, will in due course table a motion in relation to the entire practice and procedure of specially elected Members of Parliament and Councilors”, said Boko. He further said as usual the contest played out in an unfair environment of serious abuse of state resources by the ruling party. “The opposition faced near insurmountable challenges. We faced little to no coverage by the state media, especially Btv, as well as the deployment of Botswana Defence Force aircraft in BDP campaign activity. These were carried out without even an ounce of shame by the Presidency”.
The leader of opposition maintained that while many may contend that the elections were generally free it would amount to unconscious fantasies and self-deception to suggest that the elections were fair.
“It is about time we reviewed our electoral system to avoid the anomalous situation of minority government commanding only 46.7 percent of the vote. These elections have shattered all illusions of omnipotence and invincibility on the part of the BDP”. He said the death of Gomolemo Motswaledi before the elections instilled a purpose of oneness that our people have awaken to the gospel that they are powerful beyond measure. “They have realized that if they willed it they could cultivate that seedbed that would nurture every flower or crop; their talents could one day catapult them to achieve anything for themselves if they put in effort and creativity”.
Boko said the electorate spoke with stunning eloquence on the 24 October 2014 as they embraced the vision of change when they voted 20 legislators in parliament speaking in a language and voice that they had been desperately longing to discover. “And they spoke in one language and in one voice. They said they want change; they expect change and they demand change. Change is the language they spoke in. Change is the reason we are here. Change is our job description. And change is what we, all of us here, will live and fight for. “We are not the majority party.
We are not the party that has formed government. We do not hold the levers of administrative and executive power to effect the extent of the change that our people deserve. We do not allocate the budget, we do not appoint personnel to key national assignments and we do not coordinate the work of government institutions. These are the roles of the government of the day; the role of the BDP led executive. We want people of Botswana to understand this. The people need to understand this so they are clear that the fullness of our mandate can and will come only when the UDC forms government in 2019. Our mandate in parliament over the next five years is, therefore, to build the foundation for change”, said the opposition leader.
He said they will hold the government accountable for all its actions by monitoring and evaluating the work of government and subject it to the most rigorous scrutiny. Boko added that the opposition will advance the rights of workers and those of people living with disabilities, women and all the forgotten people while working to unite Batswana. “This will not bring about wholesomely the change our people expect or are demanding from government but will begin to lay the foundation for the change we will fully effect when we are in Government in 2019 through the implementation of our five pillars ÔÇô the education beehive, a clean and effective government, a humming economy, no one is left behind and happy and fulfilled families”. He attacked the president for failing in his address to assure the residents of Gaborone and other urban areas that they will ever land a job. “He had a duty to speak to the small business person, the street vendor and backbone of the informal sector to whom doom watching has now become pastime.
He was under obligation to speak pointedly and credibly to the young people who lives continue to be thwarted by landlessness and crippling joblessness. These are flesh and blood individuals and not dry statistics”. For his part, Gaborone Central legislator Phenyo Butale who defeated Botswana Congress Party leader Dumelang Saleshando and BDP’s Rupert Hambira thanked Batswana for frowning upon the Khama led dictatorship that continues to masquerade as democracy while at the same time defiling the core principles of democracy such as the respect for the sanctity of the separation of powers that provide for the independence of parliament. He said Batswana demand to know how much tax payers’ money was wasted in the case in which the Attorney General sought to nullify the process and procedures adopted by the last parliament directing the election of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and endorsement of Vice President by secret ballot rather than by a public show of hands.
“It is therefore unfortunate the same president who presided over this onslaught has the audacity to claim the title of democrat. He seeks to hoodwink the unsuspecting nation into believing that he subscribes to the rule of law when he unashamedly and arbitrarily pardoned and reinstated the killers of John Kalafatis as if to reward them for carrying out his instructions to his satisfaction. Butale said the president’s address was uninspiring, divisive and self-congratulatory ignoring issues of freedom expression which is foundational to any democracy and facilitative in that it is trough it that citizens of this republic can enjoy any other right.
“This understanding of this right which was recognized by the very first UN meeting seems to still elude President Khama and his administration who continue to trample upon media freedom, academic freedom, the right to access information, freedom of association and the right to hold an opinion and share it”.
