08 Oct 2024

Botswana needs an economy that generates sustainable jobs for an increasingly youthful workforce, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) leader, Advocate Duma Boko has said.

Launching the UDC parliamentary candidate for Kgatleng East, Dr Nono Kgafela-Mokoka in Oodi on Sunday, Adv. Boko said the UDC was the only party capable of generating such jobs through its strategy of diversifying the economy.

Advocate Boko said the UDC had the desire to create high paying jobs with minimum salary set at P4 000, pensioners’ monthly allowance at P1 800 while sustenance allowance for nursing mothers and newly born babies would be P300. He said those voting for the UDC would have the opportunity to make leaders account.

“When you vote us, be sure that we account to you and not the other way round,” he said.

Advocate Boko accused government of trampling on human rights. He said respecting inherent rights was the responsibility of government to ensure that the right to life extended to a dignified existence, which included a sustainable income and access to land for residential and agricultural purposes as well as good public health.

“You should start demanding from government that your inherent rights are respected,” he said.

Another speaker, Mr Obitseng Malesela said it was imperative to change government. He said the BDP government had failed Batswana in all respects, adding that they should not forget the hardships they were enduring.

Mr Malesela said Oodi residents had not been allocated plots for many years, which could result in squatting that would come with associated ills. He said villages in greater Gaborone, especially those in Kgatleng East, were overwhelmed by an influx of foreigners and illegal homesteads.

For her part, Dr Kgafela-Mokoka said she was ready to deliver with her team of capable council candidates.

Kgatleng East constituency comprises Malolwane, Mmathududukwane, Ramonaka, Sikwane, Mabalane, Dikwididi, Modipane East and West, Oodi East and West, Matebele, Ramodibe and Ramotlabaki/Oliphants Drift. ENDS