New Gabz Mayor promises enhanced city
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday June 14, 2022 06:00
In a precursor to the council meeting, Abraham had defeated his predecessor, Father Maphongo by 17 votes to his 14 in a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) caucus.
Abraham was born in Ramokgwebana village in the North East District but was raised in Bontleng, Gaborone. He is currently Councillor for Sebele Ward (Block 10, BUAN, Sebele Content Farms, and Gaborone North Farms), the largest ward in Gaborone with three Ward Development Committees (WDC).
Abraham told The Monitor he joined active politics in 2007 and became a member of Cell, Ward Committees in Moselewapula Ward, then deputy treasurer in 2009 at Gaborone North Constituency.
He believes after a tough contest, he should give back to those who trusted in him.
“According to the Local Government (District Councils) Act, elections of the Mayor are held after two and half years, the ambition came at the right time, at the end of the term. The majority of the BDP councillors also shared the same ambitions and nominated me, and I got the majority votes. Inner-party democracy prevailed at the caucus. The contest was tough. That’s why I got 17[votes], my predecessor 14,” he said.
As a part of his acceptance, Abraham said Gaborone has its challenges and he intends to face them head-on.
“Amongst the most immediate challenges I’m prioritising are: Dealing with issues of mental health and psychosocial support, COVID-19 has been disruptive to families in so many ways that require immediate attention, we have to mitigate against emerging social ills; ensuring that Gaborone becomes the cleanest city in the region; dealing with potholes and overgrown trees around the city; engaging with law enforcement and communities to tackle the issues of crime; promoting the spirit of volunteerism to address development challenges and increase participation by women, youth, and children; joining other stakeholders to fight gender-based violence in all its forms; as a man, engage other men to make sure that in our development agenda, men are not left behind; working and engaging with small businesses to increase economic participation; explore the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to deliver key development around the city; continue with branding the city and finally; and support the country leadership in all the initiatives aimed at improving and saving lives of Batswana,” he said, adding that PPP will be his priority.
On other issues, Abraham said: “Issues like dark streets, uncollected waste, and harassment of informal sector are ongoing. We intend to regulate informal sector traders and empower them too to have scheduled waste collection and to carry out maintenance of the street lights and roads according to the plan and in time. We will engage with law enforcement agencies to curb crime which has escalated due to a number of reasons. We have to do what we are being paid to do. To carry out the functions of the council as prescribed by the (local government) Act.”