Opposition Parties Wield Knives At Masisi
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday November 9, 2021 06:01
The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) contracting parties together with the Alliance for Progressives (AP) and Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) over the weekend held their maiden star rally where shots were fired at Masisi.
BPF acting president, Caroline Lesang said Masisi is being slammed by everyone for failing to fix the country as he promised.
“Masisi is busy persecuting his opponents. This shows that his government does not want to be opposed. We are about to go for by-elections and he is starting with his tricks. I plead with you Batswana to vote and make sure we win all the 11 wards. He is scared and did not expect us to join forces. We are here to tell you that Parliament is starting and we will have a motion of no confidence. There are so many reasons why we want him out,” she said.
Lesang called to opposition legislators to field their reasons for supporting the motion in Parliament. She said even if the motion fails because BDP has numbers, it would still be important that Batswana hear the reasons. AP Women’s League president, Pushie Manyeneng said the situation is bad and that the opposition parties should rescue Batswana from the BDP.
“They have failed to live up to their manifesto. We have joined forces to go against the BDP as a collective. Right now they are failing to account for the COVID-19 funds. They are busy buying property all over. It is time we demand accountability for the COVID-19 funds. The government is full of lies. They lied to us saying they would protect gender-based violence (GBV) victims, but nothing is happening. They threw out the motion in Parliament to protect victims and are yet to bring a solid proposal,” she said.
Manyeneng pleaded with Batswana to support the move for opposition cooperation and ensure that they vote out the BDP. She slammed the Masisi-led government for failing to provide sufficient medication at health facilities or at least state the reasons for the shortages.
UDC president, Duma Boko called forward his legislators to plead with them to make sure that they robustly present the motion of no confidence in Masisi. He said there was no way the lives of Batswana would improve under Masisi’s BDP.
“This government has failed to give its citizens land and enable them to build and provide for their families. They have failed to do so while it should be an easy exercise. They are using Land Boards to deny you land. The second responsibility of the government is to ensure the safety of the citizenry. But our people are not safe, they are living in fear of losing their property or getting injured. That only means we are led by incapable people. Right now they are busy guarding cash in transit cars because they see they have failed. They should also have these people guard our homes and streets,” he said.
Boko said Masisi is fond of telling untruths. “Telling lies is his job. We do not want such a President and it is safe to say we are cursed. Why is God punishing us? He keeps promising that he will bring investors. “And whenever he returns he complains that he is being insulted trying to avoid answering as to what he has brought back.
This shows he is a failed President hence we say once Parliament sits, we will prick them so they see they are failing. “They have failed to save lives as many people died due to lack of oxygen. Our people were killed by the BDP government. They said they put P2 billion aside for Covid, but people died at hospital entrances. “Other countries built hospitals to fight Covid while our leaders took the money and used it for their personal use with their relatives. When Covid got worse, they did nothing.
The lives of your relatives are in the hands of these thieves. “Now when we speak of motion of no confidence in this government, we are speaking on top of your relatives’ graves who were killed deliberately. “That is why we sent our legislators to speak to these in Parliament. If the BDP refuses because they have the numbers, the message should build in your hearts, you must know that when we remove them in 2024, things will change,” he said. Leader of Opposition, Dumelang Saleshando is expected to file the motion of no confidence by this week.