Cllrs react to Venson-Moitoi�s fall
Pini Bothoko | Thursday April 3, 2014 12:34
Monarch East councillor, Raoboy Mpuang, from the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was sympathetic to the former minister saying that she led the ministry during tough times.
“You should remember there was a huge battle between teachers and the government, but she managed to turn them around. She is a capable woman. It is not like Venson-Moitoi is failing, but rather the ministry is huge and needs to be re-structured in order to win the battle of improving the country’s education system,” he said.
Ikageleng councillor, Tabengwa Tabengwa from the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) said the Tuesday cabinet reshuffle that toppled Venson-Moitoi and created a number of acting appointments is a sign that the ruling party is confused.
“The ruling BDP is confused and failing to run this country thus taking wrong decisions that ultimately affect the country’s economy,” he charged.
The city mayor, James Kgalajwe of the BDP said the removal of Venson-Moitoi from the cabinet and her redeployment to head a programme within the ministry is a good move. “It seems she has established the ministry’s problems and she is going to address them, come up with solutions and later implement them after being returned to her position as minister.
“After finding out the solutions to the problems, she should be returned to her seat so that she can implement them and improve the education system of the country because she is capable of doing so,” he said.
Itekeng ward councillor Professor Tlou of the BCP said the education system is falling apart and the government is panicking and making wrong decisions. “Venson-Moitoi failed the system and being moved to the position of special assignment from the ministry is proof that she has failed. The move will not bear any fruit. Rather the government should be focusing on coming up with how to solve the problems of poor results.
Councillor Stephen Michael of Ipopeng said it is high time the government considered appointing people who are not politicians to the cabinet. He said politicians have a huge job of representing the people who elected them. “All of the ministers who spent most of their time outside the country or doing ministerial jobs have failed their electorates. A majority of them have lost in the primary elections, showing that they had too much work to do. Botswana has well-qualified citizens who are not politicians who are capable of being hired to run the ministries and hence build a better country,” he said.