16 Oct 2019

As the clock ticks closer to October 23, five Parliamentary hopefuls vying for Gaborone Central have made their pledges on improving the lives of constituents.

The quintet include Dr Phenyo Butale of Alliance for Progressives(AP), Mr Tumisang Healy of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Dr Mpho Pheko of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and independent candidates in Messrs Moses Letsweletse and Jafta Radibe.

The quintet expressed their promises and why they deserved a vote during Radio Botswana live debate.

Dr Butale said having been incumbent MP for the area, he was well informed of problems that Gaborone Central constituents were faced with and thus deserved a second chance to continue with some of unfinished assignments.

He said during his tenure as MP, he traversed the constituency and interacted with electorate well ensuring that their grievances reached National Assembly.

Dr Butale said as Gaborone Central was home for the country’s highest institution of learning, the University of Botswana, he had previously advocated that the student community be given book allowance so that they purchased books in shops of their choice, something he said had been a topical issue at UB for many years.
He said he also advocated for increase of tertiary education student allowance and salary adjustments for UB lecturers, following performance management system.

He said his track record also included among others, maintenance of primary schools within the constituency and provision of teachers accommodation at Gaborone Secondary School.

He said through the Constituency Development Fund, each ward was given funds to do projects that were agreed by residents, among them, the Maruapula Clinic which upon completion would have eight consultation rooms and would alleviate congestion at other clinics within the city.

He said the AP could come up with solutions to some of the  challenges such as congestion at Marina Referral Hospital, which he said was overwhelmed.

As such, he called on government to address the situation at the hospital as a matter of urgency because many lives were lost because the doctor-patient ratio was too high.

Mr Healy of the BDP said when elected, he would ensure that employment creation was central to his assignment as MP.

He said his party through the Citizen Economic Empowerment policy intended to turn around the economy and improve rate of employment, especially for young people and unemployed graduates.

He said BDP had reservation policies which should be used to improve lives of Batswana, arguing that constituents were not aware of such because of no capable leader to articulate such policies to be put to good use.

Mr Healy said Gaborone Central was home to Gaborone Game Reserve and Segoditshane River, which he said could be turned into tourist attraction areas and benefit constituents through the Community Based Natural Resource Management to create employment for Gaborone Central populace.

He further said the BDP manifesto encouraged and natured an inclusive government, hence he should be given an opportunity to represent Gaborone Central residents so that they may all benefit.

Dr Pheko of the UDC said when elected, she would reinvigorate the constituency which she argued was the most neglected, yet was home to some of the country’s essential institutions such as Marina hospital, national stadium and the University of Botswana.

She said her campaign message focused on three main priority areas of education, health and fighting poverty.

Dr Pheko said UDC would offer solutions to education from pre-school through use of multiple pathways so that children may identify their talents from young age.  She said UDC encouraged education with production as it had the potential to contribute immensely to the economy.

She also said she was concerned about disparities between the poor and the rich, unemployment and poverty.

She said Gaborone Central could be turned into a research-intensive mini-smart city.

In that regard, she said book allowance, research and student allowance was not enough for students owing to the fact that the country aspired to become a knowledge-based economy.

She said UDC manifesto articulated issues of research with a budget specific to it and formulation of research council.

Dr Pheko also said Botswana lacked state of art medical facilities, arguing that most hospitals were in bad condition with low bed capacity. She said her party’s manifesto articulated how health would be improved through telemedicine, among other things.

She said UDC should be given an opportunity to create ample and seamless employment opportunities.

An independent candidate, Mr Radibe said Gaborone Central was marred with a plethora of problems, among them the poor state of roads, street lights and poverty, among others, which needed a true representative like him.

He said he would advocate for review of the Constitution, arguing that Batswana needed the Constitution that they would own because the current one was inherited from colonialists.

Mr Radibe said Botswana needed Constitution that referenced God because ‘fear of the Lord was the beginning of wisdom’.

He said he was against the current Constitution because it gave the Head of State absolute powers, yet not elected by Batswana.

He said Botswana was faced with social ills because Batswana were not God fearing.

He cited the recent High Court judgement on homosexuality as one that showed how Batswana had lost morality.

Mr Radibe also said as an activist for workers’ rights, he was best placed to be the voice for workers or labour movements.

He also said he would advocate for policies that placed Batswana first, saying they had become spectators in their own economy that was dominated by foreigners.

Mr Radibe also said when voted, he would ensure that Batswana became industrious so that they created employment for themselves.

Another independent candidate, Mr Letsweletse said when voted as MP for Gaborone Central, he would advocate for empowerment of Village Development Committees (VDCs) to be given authority for self-governing.

He was of the view that VDCs were best placed to know the needs of their communities and that they could develop meaningful activities that would benefit constituents.

He said he envisioned a varsity graduate transformation agenda that would set out a clear path for graduates post studies.

He said he believed that there should be a way to assist tertiary education students to do part time jobs that would contribute to their work experience that most employers required when hiring.

Mr Letsweletse further said he was also concerned about disparities of off and on-campus students.

In that regard, he said he would speak for construction of student villas with shuttle buses that ferried students to schools.

Also, he said Form Three students who had failed should be assisted and assimilated in the mainstream education system because they were faced with a task of competing for jobs with those that had been to tertiary institutions.

He said he developed a strategy to tutor struggling form three students to proceed to Form Five so that they may in turn get employment that required minimum Cambridge certificate.

A total of 12 870 people have registered for elections at Gaborone Central which has six wards comprising Boikhutso, Tsholofelo South, Maruapula, Village, Government Enclave and Notwane. ENDS