It has been widely reported in the media and other forums that the Honourable Member of Parliament for Mogoditshane constituency, Patrick Masimolole, is out to sideline opposition councilors in the constituency. The MP is reported to have denied this and dismissed the allegations as cheap politicking by the aggrieved councilors, who all happened to belong to Botswana Congress Party (BCP). It has been further reported that this issue became central in Masimolole’s agenda in all the kgotla meetings he recently addressed in the constituency, whereby a wrong and false impression was created to the public that opposition councilors in Mogoditshane were not cooperating with the area MP.
We wish to correct this fabricated and distorted impression being fed to the populace of Mogodisthane and the general public and set the record straight. Despite the honorable MPs vehement denials that he is not sidelining opposition councilors in the constituency, his actions totally betray him. Examples abound to support our conviction. Sometimes after the general elections, in November, the MP made an arrangement to introduce newly elected councilors in Mogoditshane to the Subordinate Chief of Mogoditshane. Indeed this is something which is welcome since tribal administration is an integral part of the community leadership and should work hand in hand with elected representatives for the betterment of the welfare of the people they represent.
But what became shocking and disturbing with these introductions to the chief was the manner in which the MP did them. Instead of introducing all councilors in the constituency of Mogoditshane to the chief, Masimolole decided to only introduce Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) councilors with the exclusion of all opposition councilors. No communication was made to opposition councilors from the MP’s office to this effect. We got to know about the introductions through the grape vine.
At first we thought this was just an omission since we believed that as opposition councilors in Mogoditshane, we too were duly elected to our positions and deserved the same recognition and respect that is accorded BDP councilors who include special nominated ones. But our enquiry at the chief’s office left us dumfounded as we were told that the MP has said he was unable to locate us, and that he was very busy to do that as he had a more important parliament business to take attend to.
We wondered where he tried to locate us, and why he decided to go ahead with the introductions of only the BDP councilors if at all he had failed on one attempt (from his testimony) to contact us (opposition councilors). We read some sinister motives in the whole thing. We asked ourselves a lot of questions. Why didn’t the MP postpone the introductions until he had contacted all councilors in Mogodisthane constituency? Didn’t the MP see any importance in introducing opposition councilors to the chief? Was the MP setting the tone of how he was going to work with opposition councilors?
All these questions remain unanswered to this date as the MP never apologized or communicated to us about the introductions and what attempts he claims he made to contact us. We decided as opposition councilors to approach the chief and request for an appointment for our own introductions to him so that he might not be surprised in future when he meets us in our course of business. The chief welcomed us and encouraged us to serve the communities we represent without any fear. In his words, he said, “Dintsa di bofilwe”.
While we were still trying to recover from the shock of not being introduced with other councilors and hoping that in future the MP will consult with us and include us in his plans, we received yet another cold shoulder from Masimolole. He drew up a schedule for kgotla meetings in Mogoditshane constituency, which to our surprise, excluded the wards represented by opposition councilors. There was only one ward which was included, but we know the reason why this particular opposition ward was included in Masimolole’s kgotla meetings schedule. The ward has a specially nominated councilor who is being groomed to overthrow the incumbent opposition civic leader. The reasons advanced by Masimolole when questioned about these clear cases of sabotage and sidelining of opposition civic leaders are neither here nor there. They clearly appear to be just an attempt at face saving.
We wish to state categorically clear that, while we know that no amount of pleading can compel Masimolole to show us respect and our rightful recognition as elected opposition representatives in Mogoditshane constituency (that will be an exercise in futility), we would however want him (Masimolole) to have a little bit of regard for the electorate of Mogoditshane, who voted him into parliament. Or else he must then explain to them that areas represented by opposition councilors in Mogoditshane are not represented in parliament. He must tell them that he only represents areas under the BDP councilors. We want him to tell them that they committed an unpardonable sin by voting opposition members as councilors in Mogoditshane. We want him to tell them that for the next five years they will not be represented in parliament.
Masimolole seems to forget that he is in parliament because he had promised the people of Mogoditshane that if elected, he will bring developments in the village. Now it appears he has forgotten all about that and is steadfastly pursuing his personal agendas to the detriment of the masses in Mogoditshane. There are daunting challenges in Mogoditshane which need a united leadership to tackle them. By leadership we mean ALL those who matter in decision making such Member of Parliament, councilors, VDCs, Dikgosi, VET and others, regardless of political affiliation.
Divisive politics is bad for progress. They are counterproductive and should be nipped in the bud before they become cancerous. A divided leadership will only lead to the continued suffering of the poor electorates, who took painful efforts to stand in long queues, in scotching heat to vote for leaders they hoped would represent their aspirations. The people of Mogoditshane need developments, not power contests that Masimolole wants to espouse.
They need good roads, they want jobs, they want garbage to be collected regularly from their homes, they want to be protected from criminals, and they want many more other things to be done in their village.
All these issues need a united leadership to address them, not power contests. Going around peddling falsehoods about opposition councilors will not bring developments much needed by Mogoditshane residents. Indeed residents of Mogoditshane should feel betrayed by this man who promised them milk and honey during campaign but has now reneged against his pledges.
Though Batswana have long embraced democracy and its principles, it seems Rre Masimolole has remained decades behind. His concerted drive to curtail and sabotage opposition councilors in Mogoditshane only serves to show that he is still stuck in the old and irrelevant hate politics, which have long reached their sell by date. We as opposition councilors would like to plead with President Ian Khama to rein over Masimolole and save the people of Mogoditshane. We believe that if there is one man that must be fired by the president, it is none other than Patrick Masimolole- he is an embodiment of the ugly side of our society. Acts such as pollute our democracy. They give our democracy a bad name.
Yours truly,
Opposition Councilors in Mogoditshane!
Hon. Clr Johnson Rowland
Hon. Clr Banks Ndebele
Hon. Clr Michael Mathame
