As Parliament wrapped up last week Sunday Standard reporter THOBO MOTLHOKA recalled some of the jabs exchanged by Members during some of the most recent sittings.
When the Leader of Opposition Duma Boko believes Minister of Basic Education Bagalatia Arone’s appointment has political connotations: “Your appointment has its own political connotations anyway as a Minister. I do not want to go down that road, I could if you want it, but I do not want to deal with those on the auction block politically. I am dealing with public officers who are there on merit, on service, you are not there on merit Bagalatia Arone. So I am not going to engage with you in that regard. So this is the point I am making, those who are on the auction block must keep quiet, we are discussing serious national issues here. ”
When Vice President Slumber Tsogwane is not intimidated by Duma Boko’s LLB: “What is LLB? You have not even won half of the cases that you represented the people before the courts. A low performing… You do not have a PhD. You could have gone that far if you were so brilliant the way you claim it. Useless!”
When Slumber Tsogwane does not take kindly to Dithapelo Keorapetse’s defense of Duma Boko: “Nnyaa, kana malope a kgona go utlwa mafoko a a sa buiwang, but in any case…”
When Francistown South MP Wynter Mmolotsi responds to a jab the world reverberates: “Procedure. Mr. Speaker, I thought I was just bringing the issue of procedure here, I never thought I was attracting the wrath of the Vice President to attack me and I take offence. If he continues like this, I will obviously retaliate and if I do the world will reverberate.”
When Duma Boko’s failure to hold NEC meetings at BNF irks Minister of Defense, Justice and Security, Shaw Kgathi: “Ke gotetse, ke ne ke bua biblical analogy. Mr Speaker, bona, I am saying this Motion is presented by a desperate man, a man who never sits in Parliament. He has the highest level of absenteeism mo Palamenteng, you take count. He has the guts to come and tell us gore we are passing Motions ka urgency a ne a seyo when we debated re advance mabaka. This man, no ways! This is the man who has not been able to hold the Central Committee meetings tsa phathi ya gagwe and he has the guts to come and tell us things ka our President who has performed in the last 100 days, a supa dilo tse di kgatlhang Batswana o bo o tla today o re we should look aside this man ka gore he is not performing. This is the man who has failed go dira lefoko la moswi… (Kenneth) Koma gore go agiwe Kopano House.”
When Duma Boko calls President Mokgweetsi Masisi loud-mouthed and tongue tied: “Your president has been a president of press conferences where he speaks a lot, loves listening to his own voice. If I put it more starkly, he is loud-mouthed and tongue-tied… That is the description; loud-mouthed and tongue-tied.”
When Slumber Tsogwane has his own pronunciation of Kindergarten: Even a khandagarten (kindergarten) child can assert that this is not true…” and a fellow Honourable Member asks for clarification: “On a point of clarification Mr Speaker. Ke ne ke re ke utlwe lefoko le ka gore ke tlile go araba. Ke ne ke re ke utlwe le la ‘khanda’, ke ne ke batla go le kwala gore ke tle ke kgone go le araba.”
When Minister of Transport and Communications Kitso Mokaila thinks Boteti East MP Setlhomo Lelatisitswe has no business being in Parliament if does not know the importance of a Post Office. Lelatisitswe: “…re bolelele o bo o re tlhalosetse mosola wa poso gore ke eng rraetsho.” Mokaila: “Fa motlotlegi a sa itse mosola wa poso go raya gore ga ke itse gore o batla eng mo Palamenteng.”
