15 Sep 2014

Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) secretary general, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi, says there is need for a fresh political leadership to stir the country in the right direction.

Hence, he appealed to Ramotswa constituents to vote for the UDC council and parliamentary candidates on October 24.

Mr Mmolotsi was launching the candidates in Ramotswa on September 14. He said the UDC was a viable alternative to the ruling party, which he accused of having failed to create enough jobs and empower citizens.

He said under the current regime, the country’s citizens no longer enjoyed their civil liberties and the quality of education was going down while corruption had spiralled up.

Furthermore, he said if the ruling party could retain power, opposition party members would not be guaranteed of their safety as they already feared for their lives.

He further said the ruling party was strained and the onus was on Batswana to do them good and deny them a vote during the upcoming elections. Mr Mmolotsi said should the ruling party retain power, Batswana should expect the worst out of the ruling party, as they had nothing new to offer.

He asked the Ramotswa residents to vote for UDC parliamentary candidate, Mr Roger Mphafe and in so doing they will be voting for change in the country.

Another speaker, Mr Johnson Motshwarakgole of BOFEPUSO asked the constituents to support the UDC. “If you ask if BOSEPUSO does endorse UDC, the answer is no. How possible can a person endorse his idea? ” he asked.

Mr Motshwarakgole said the idea to come up a united opposition party was convinced by public servants during the 2011 national strike and further added that BOFEPUSO believes that UDC will listen and engage the working class.

He added that after the strike, the federation agreed with all opposition parties that any party which will shun the united opposition should be punished.

Mr Motshwarakgole said no political party will unsettle the ruling party from power on its own hence he encouraged the workers to rally behind the UDC.

Another speaker, Mr Calvin Thutlwe who is the UDC council candidate for Gaborone Central, said the ruling party has failed to avail land and develop Ramotswa.

He said this is an indication that the ruling party does not have the interest of the Balete at heart.

For his part, Mr Mphafe pleaded with the Ramotswa constituents to vote for him and his council candidates as they are willing to serve the community and accused the current government of neglecting the area. Ends