To the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) leadership he is a pain. To the working class he is a fortress against oppression from the BDP-led government. Wynter Mmolotsi has defended the rights of Batswana from all walks of life, in and outside parliament, without fear or favor. In some instances, he has even put his life in danger by taking the authorities to task. He went to parliament in 2009 and became the voice of the teachers, soldiers, students, artists and the sports fraternity. He has spoken for the less privileged and the oppressed. Mmolotsi has become the ombudsman of many people in this country, especially the working class. Whenever they have a problem, our soldiers at BDF know they can always confide in Mmolotsi their frustrations and anger.
Whenever they have issues with government, our teachers call on Mmolotsi to voice out their grievances in parliament. It will be remembered that the BDP never really wanted Mmolotsi to make it to parliament. The powers that be at the BDP tried everything in their power to thwart his parliamentary ambitions when he stood against their blue-eyed boy, Khumo Maoto during the party’s primary elections. He’s been through hell in his political life. He has probably collected more disciplinary letters than he has traffic fines, all on account of sticking to principle and siding with the constituents and not the leadership. The BDP leadership never loved Mmolotsi because he has always proved to put national interest ahead of political expediency. It is his principled stand that saw the people of Francistown usher him into parliament, against all the odds that were stacked against him. His political prowess was not only appreciated by the people of Francistown. He was admired and embraced by the entire BDP membership, as proved by his landslide victory at the BDP congress in Kanye where he was elected deputy secretary general of the party. What happened thereafter is now history. He was expelled from the party together with other members such as Botsalo Ntuane, Guma Moyo, Kabo Morwaeng, Sidney Pilane and Ndaba Gaolathe.
His expulsion from the BDP turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it gave him the freedom to speak in parliament without any restrictions from the BDP. He became liberated. He became a firebrand. Where many were forced to conform and abide by the wishes of the leadership, Mmolotsi fired from all angles and posed in parliament questions that had the BDP leaders on the edge of their seats. Batswana now know a lot of things that they would have probably never known had Mmolotsi never been to parliament. It is because of Mmolotsi that we now know President Khama has spent P180 000 of taxpayers’ money on forks and knives for his presidential jet. It was through Mmolotsi that Batswana got to know that the Khama brothers enjoyed exclusive and lucrative business deals from the BDF while Khama was still head of the army.
In fact, it was because of Mmolotsi’s probing that Lesego Motsumi was expelled from parliament after coming close to admitting that Khama abused his office to award his brothers the BDF tenders. Mmolotsi has always been a friend of the workers in this country and has always extended his support to their struggles against oppression. Mmolotsi petitioned Parliament on behalf of the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) regarding bargaining with the employer for improved terms and conditions of service. The purpose of the petition was to air the grievances of trade unions after President Khama and the director of Public Service Management (DPSM) had acted in disregard of their duty to bargain in good faith and in violation of rules of conduct governing negotiations. Since he came to parliament, Mmolotsi has asked 411 questions.
He has tabled eight motions, of which three got approval from members and we all know how difficult it is for an opposition member of parliament to convince the ruling MP’s to support and approve motions tabled by the opposition, regardless of their national importance. Mmolotsi has exposed a lot of corrupt practices in the public service, more significantly in the Botswana Defence Force. He has advocated for the rights of all workers in both the private sector and government. Mmolotsi was the first parliamentarian to introduce a burial society for his constituents, which has since assisted 17 families in Francistown. He has hosted and sponsored youth empowerment workshops annually in Francistown. He has extended the same opportunity to women in Francistown. Mmolotsi has also extended his social responsibility initiatives to Ipelegeng workers. Mmolotsi has been, deservingly so, voted the best performing Member of Parliament for four successive years. Mmolotsi is one MP who researches extensively on issues that he brings to the attention of parliament. Mmolotsi has proved to be a hard worker and I find no reason why the people of Francistown South cannot be encouraged to bring him back to parliament.
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