01 Oct 2024

Three Tlokweng constituency parliamentary aspirants on Saturday went for the jugular in a highly charged Radio Botswana live debate.

The trio, Mr Thulagano Segokgo of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Mr Masego Segokgo of Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Mr Phenyo Segokgo of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) presented their plans in an effort to convince Tlokweng electorate to vote for them on October 30 .

Mr Pheyo decried the alarming numbers of unemployed youth in Tlokweng.

He said instead of funding Air Botswana to purchase aircraft, government could have considered the construction of a school in Tlokweng.

Mr Phenyo said while serving as chairperson of Tlokweng District Council he had proposed in the district development plan that a primary hospital be built in Tlokweng to decongest Princess Marina Hospital.

He said with Tlokweng being  the fourth largest village in Botswana, his party would take advantage of the numbers and establish industries and manufacturing sites to economically benefit residents.

He said given a chance the UDC-led government would promote  urban agriculture and urban farming as the village was next to Madikwe Game Reserve.

He said urban tourism opportunities were abundant in the village.

On matters of land, Mr Phenyo said UDC called for a comprehensive land audit.

He said in an effort to address shortage of land in Tlokweng his party would procure land in freehold farms such as Ruretse.

Mr Masego said lack of land in Tlokweng was reversing economic gains of Batlokwa.

He said health facilities were poorly managed, which led to avoidable deaths. He also said the education system was poor which led to lack of extracurricular activities in schools.

He said the road networks projects currently underway in the village were just a political gimmick to entice voters.

He said BCP was ready to provide solutions to challenges facing Batswana.

Mr Masego said corruption was rising as some individuals were looking to line up their pockets with funds  allocated to projects.

He said he was worried that some projects included in the Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP) had not been started though the plan was coming to an end in four months.

He also disparaged the Tlokweng District Development Plan as a document not well thought of as its master plan was also not provided.

Mr Thulagano said the ruling party had a track record of delivering on its promises espoused in its manifesto.

He said BDP government was engaged in major infrastructural development projects such as water, road networks and quality primary health provision.

He said programmes such as Thuo Letlotlo and Temo Letlotlo were proof that BDP was committed to improving livelihoods of Batswana.

He promised voters that a primary hospital was in the pipeline.

Mr Thulagano said industrialisation and manufacturing were part and parcel of his party’s manifesto aspirations.

He said mineral beneficiation was also earmarked to benefit citizens.

He said BDP government had also explored the pharmaceutical sector as Botswana had shown potential in producing its own medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Thulagano said the economic recovery and transformation plan had resulted in some of the ongoing projects in Tlokweng such roads.

Regarding the Air Botswana purchase of the Embraer aircraft Mr Segokgo said the procurement  was done to increase the company’s fleet and  improve efficiency.

On land issues ,he said Tlokweng Land Board had set aside 1 050 plots for allocation and had so far allocated 949 while a further 147 would be serviced and allocated. Ends