05 Dec 2024

The onus is on the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) to assure Batswana that a change of government is not a suicidal move.

This was said by Okavango West Legislator, Mr Kenny Kapinga in Parliament on Wednesday when contributing to the State-of- the Nation Address debate.

He urged the new government to use its first 100 days in office to restore trust and hope among the electorate.

Mr Kapinga said that one way of doing such was fighting corruption, which he said was rife under the past administration.

“One stop to start is the Development Manager Model, which we learnt was the epitome of corruption. How the ruling party handles it will be its test,” he said.

Mr Kapinga also said that one way of bringing trust to the nation was to restore independence of public institution such as the judiciary, where he said judges were not engaged on merit. He advised the new administration to welcome constructive criticism.

“Straight talk does not break friendships. I also advice you to be truthful to the electorate all the time, and do not be afraid to correct the President,” he said.

He reasoned that in the past, the head of state erred partly due to failure to advice accordingly by those who were supposed to.

Mr Kapinga also said that his constituents were hopeful that the new government would bring much needed developments to them.

“In the past Okavango was neglected, and that is why poverty is so rife there. The standard of education is so poor, especially on the eastern side of the river,” he said.

He said one sign of neglect was the Nxamasera-Tsodilo road, which was in a bad state despite leading to a world heritage site.

Mr Kapinga said his constituents were hopeful in other projects such as the Sehithwa-Mohembo and Mohembo East-Gudingwa roads.

“They are also hopeful of the resuscitation of KgomoKhumo quarantine camp, which will enable services such as artificial insemination,” he said.

The MP said elimination of corruption by the ruling party would enable focus on provision of social services such as education, health and infrastructure.

He also advised the UDC government to clean the public service as it was cluttered with those appointed on favouritism than merit.

Mr Kapinga applauded government for its decision to allow Mr Pitseng Gaoberekwe’s remains to be buried at his ancestral place in the CKGR, saying it was a sign of a government that took human rights seriously.

Nata/Gweta MP, Mr Lawrence Ookeditse for his part, also said that his constituency was battered by poverty, especially that it was highly populated by the Basarwa tribe, whom he said were long marginalised.

“The area has a poverty prevalence of about 40 per cent, and the situation is made worse by the fact that the last government failed to allocate naturalised citizens of Angolan decent land to plough.

“These people are passionate farmers as they used to produce crops while still in camp at Dukwi, but since they naturalised they have had a challenge of land. The section of the village where they we allocated lacks water” he said.

Mr Ookeditse also said that tribes such as Basarwa should be exempted from levies attracted by collection of natural resources as they only gathered enough for subsistence.

“This is more so that most of them, in areas such as Njutshaa were relocated from the Makgadikgadi pans where they subsisted through such natural resources,” he said.

Still on his constituency, Mr Ookeditse said that by being denied the lucrative EU beef market, they were being punished for co-habiting with wildlife, which was also a national treasure.

He called for the increment of compensation on injuries caused by wild animals to be on the same scale with those of motor vehicle accidents. Ends