I�ve suffered enough, pleads Mamela

Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday June 17, 2014 06:59

Mamela believes that over the years he has been subjected to “sabotage and sidelining by voters” in past general elections.  He believes he was being punished solely for quitting the Botswana National Front (BNF) to co-establish the BCP in 1998. Mamela was the Francistown West MP from 1994 to 1998 under BNF before losing the seat in 1999 under the BCP.  The constituency was divided into two, namely Francistown West and Francistown South after the delimitation exercise in 2003. 

Mamela contested Francistown South under the BCP and lost twice in 2004 and 2009.

“Voters in Francistown have a tendency of saying that when one has defected to another party you do not vote for him,” he said. 

“It has been the case with me after I left BNF. Now it is Wynter Mmolotsi’s turn to experience what I experienced when I left the BNF for BCP.” He continued: “Wynter has also left the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and co-formed the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD). “I have suffered enough, now it is his turn to suffer. Punish him like me. (Ke jele wame kgano ke mo laetse, jaanong a o jewe ke Wynter, a o je le moro wa one),” he said. Mamela said that some of the things he achieved in parley show that he is a capable leader. “One of my highlights in Parliament was that I fought relentlessly for the abolishment of squatters in Somerset West. “The residents who resided in those squatter camps were subsequently given plots,” Mamela said. Mamela added that the BDP leadership does not want to develop Francistown. He cited shortage of land as an area where the BDP leadership has failed the people of Francistown. “For a long-time the city has been in need of a district hospital and the BDP government has failed to offer one. 

“Our view as the BCP is that the Jubilee Clinic should be upgraded into a district hospital or alternatively a new hospital should be built. If voted I believe we will be in a better position to advocate for such a development in Parliament,” he added. Mamela also said that should he be voted, he would strongly advocate for the construction of a recreational facility in Francistown.  Mamela also said that attracting investors would be top of his priority list.