Okavango MP fears for democracy
LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent
The MP for Okavango, Bagalatia Arone has expressed fears for the country's democracy. The MP told Parliament yesterday that Botswana is slowly becoming a typical African dictatorship.
He predicts that a time is coming when people will be eliminated for expressing dissenting views. The youthful MP said there is a tendency to undermine democratic institutions in the country. The opposition legislator said he was saddened by the manner in which the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ousted its secretary general, Gomolemo Motswaledi.
He said it is not acceptable to victimise members of a party just because they hold a dissenting view. He lamented that Motswaledi's political career has been destroyed deliberately. The Okavango legislator expressed reservations about the Independent Electoral System (IEC). He said requiring people to produce identity cards to vote disadvantages voters, especially those in rural areas. He said the impoverished communities in areas like Okavango are facing difficulties when it comes to acquiring identity cards. He suggested that people should be allowed to use passports, driving licences or receipts that show they have applied for identity cards to vote. He called for better pay for the security forces. "Their welfare needs to be looked at. The ministry should look at upgrading their salaries," he said. He told parliament that the merging of the Botswana Police Service and Local Police has created administrative problems in the rural areas. As a result, the rate of crime has escalated because there are no local police officers. The MP called for the improvement of conditions of service of headmen of arbitration so that they can get salaries instead of allowances. He said the allowances of Village Development Committee (VDC) members should be increased.
The MP lamented that the Okavango is a prime tourism area, but its residents live on the margins of society. He said there are no hospitals in the constituency, while the clinics are under-resourced. He said there are no poverty reduction programmes that the government has put into place. He condemned the Ipelegeng programme, which has been initiated to relieve poverty. He said the Ipelegeng workers should be paid more than P365 per month. He said people living with disability in places like Okavango do not have access to rehabilitation centres because such facilities are located in towns.
Arone urged government to consider introducing a living allowance for people living with disabilities. The MP called for the review of the P10,000 maintenance allowance for primary schools.
