By Basadi Morokotso
Alliance for Progressives (AP) Vice President Wynter Mmolotsi says voters in Maun West are faced with a mammoth task of coming up with a visionary leader who will help challenge government into seeing residents as hundred percent Batswana who deserve to be valued and treated with respect.
Speaking at an AP rally in Maun on Saturday, Mmolotsi noted that the party believes in a leadership that commands good judgment, creative thinkers who can represent well and not the ones who are self centered. He said people in the rest of Ngamiand have suffered the most as compared to the rest of Batswana who have numerous options when it comes to choosing their kind of lifestyle. Given chance to lead the country, he said they have intentions to make huge transformations which the BDP led government has failed to introduce in the five decades that it has been in power. First and foremost he said the AP will make it a point that education is taken to a bigger level by introducing institutions of high learning which are area-specific. He pointed out also that they will also make sure that all major villages and towns have their own schools of excellence whereby priority will be given to residents. In Maun, he said there will be an institution which will specialize in tourism, another one in the Boteti area which specializes in diamonds, and many others which will be extended to other areas. “This development will help rescue thousands of graduates who currently roam the streets. It will also reduce unemployment as we will ensure students graduating from these institutions are absorbed into the job market where their skills are needed”. He added that most parents have invested a lot in the education of their children as they had hoped their children will in turn take care of them as soon as they complete their studies, which is not the case at present. He advised that it will be meaningless to vote the BDP back into power as it has proved to be ineffective, even with its many MP’s,most of whom he said are experienced in various fields and have the know-how ability of transforming the courtier but are sitting on their laurels.
He referred to the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) as the big joke that has ever happened in Botswana politics. While it is common practice for parties to go their separate ways during hard times, he said the UDC factions have had a funny way of doing it because even after parting ways, none of them want to let go of the founding name.
“They even have the courage to say we should come back to the united opposition under the circumstances. Who in their right minds would want to be associated with people who have failed numerous times to have their house in order? We don’t even know which side of UDC is better than the other because they are just a confused lot who should mind their own business”.
He likened the two UDC to the BDP which he says also has the two factions of BDP under Ian Khama and the other BDP under President Masisi.
“As it stands now, the AP is the only stable movement which has able bodied men and women who can represent well.”
For his part, Maun West AP parliamentary candidate Moalosi Sebati promised that should he be elected in 2019, he will fight for Maun to be developed tremendously for it TO be considered a third city after Gaborone and Francistown. He said a comprehensive land database will also be put in place so as to enable Tawana Land board to know who has land where and how land is acquired so that a certain portion of it can be reserved for the indigenous people of Maun. “Because we have plenty of fish in our rivers, I will also advocate for a fish cannery in these areas so that we may be able to export from Ngamiland”, said Sebati.
Also speaking at the rally was Gaborone Central Member of Parliament Dr Phenyo Butale who appealed to voters in Maun West to create sufficient time for him particularly so that he may come back and give highlights about “some people” whom he says will never be of any benefit to them. Butale noted that it would benefit voters a lot to know who they are dealing with, lest they find themselves regretting when it is already too late for a change of mind.
“I know some of these people more than everyone of you here. As a result I am better placed to share my knowledge of them with you so that you may vote wisely. Some people get rejected and think they can prove their worth where they are unpopular, but this to me is nothing because I will still follow them and expose them even more”, he said referring to Dumelang Saleshando whom he said still has a lot of work to prove himself to the people who have never known him as compared to Sebati.
