Kwadipane�s hopes for Gantsi South

Leinanyana Tsiane | Friday July 11, 2014 12:47

The year was 1984 and as a member of debating team he started reading the Botswana National Front (BNF) ‘bible’, Pamphlet No 1. But it was while serving Tirelo Sechaba in 1989, that he was bit by the BNF leftwing bug.

However, Kwadipane insists that even when he became a well known sympathiser for the party in his days at University of Botswana (UB) in the 1990s, he never applied or carried the BNF membership card.

“I once served on the Student Representative Council (SRC) as the Minister of Rectory and that was during Duma Boko’s reign as SRC president. I also served on the faculty board of Education where sciences were under one faculty,” explained Kwadibane, who is contesting for the Gantsi South parliamentary seat under the BCP. He will be pitted against the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Member of Parliament Christiaan De Graaff, and Motsamai Motsamai of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).

Kwadinane said the first time he voted for the BNF was during 1994 by-elections in Gantsi after the death of Gantsi Township West councillor. After the Palapye debacle in 1998, although he was just a spectator, his instincts told him he should join the BCP which he eventually did.

“In 1999 I was working in Shakawe then and I voted for BCP and by the end of 1999 I had a BCP membership card. When Peba Sethantsho passed on in 2003, there was no one to contest for Gantsi South and I decided to give it a try and contested for Gantsi South but lost to Christian De Graaf,” he discloses.

He took a break during the 2009 elections, but returned to the race after being frustrated by what he called a lack of proper representation and the calibre of leadership in Parliament and council for the constituency. Also, Kwadipane says the plight of the people prompted him to contest again.

“When you look at Gantsi constituencies and the developments that you see, it was because of the community and stakeholders, not because it was a motion in Parliament by any  MP from the area. These were the 1995 plans whose sessions I chaired for the National Development Plan (NDP) 5. The Rural Administration Centre, the internal roads, electricity that we get from Namibia are the efforts by the public servants, councillors and various stakeholders. Most projects were realised through the NDP 5,” reveals Kwadipane.

If voted to Parliament, Kwadipane said he will advocate for a private abattoir and reduce the monopoly the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has. His vision, however, is not for it a completely independent one, but rather a private abattoir that is partly owned by the public. This, he believes, would enable the community to benefit from the sale of cattle.

“Right now, the people of Gantsi do not benefit a thing and this is where the best breeds of cattle come from,” said the aspiring MP.

The private abattoir, he said, would not affect BMC business but give it competition. The proposed abattoir would not solely be for beef export, but also a second industry for raw materials such as horns, hooves and leather which he said would create employment for residents of Gantsi.

The development of brigades is another issue he wants to take to Parliament. He said since government took over the brigades in 1997, nothing has actually changed. His hope is for Gantsi Brigade to be turned into a technical college and even have a satellite campus in Charleshill, focused more on teaching entrepreneural and life skills.

“Our children start their businesses, but they usually fail because they do not have skills to run them. They need managerial skills hence the need for the satellite campus which will concentrate on that,” said Kwadipane.

He said it was unfortunate that the government dishes out money on many projects which are not monitored hence majority collapse. He has observed that every time before elections new programmes and policies are introduced. 

“They use these as programmes to campaign, nothing else. This is just a waste of the tax payer’s money. ALDEP, AERAP or ISPAAD these are just one and the same thing, the only difference is the names.”

Kwadipane says as long as corrupt people are in charge of Land Boards, complaints and unfair allocation of land will continue. He said the Land Board demarcated pots in Gantsi South meant for locals but surprisingly people from outside are now owners of the land.

To him, locals should be prioritised in land allocation. “I am not being tribalistic but want fair allocation of land. This is one of my priorities when I am voted to Parliament.”

Kwadipane said he will also advocate for toll gates to be built along the Gantsi-Charleshill road and preferably at Tsootsha because maintenance of the Trans Kalahari road is upon Botswana, while the country shares it with neighbouring countries.

Kwadipane is a single father of three daughters. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from UB and is currently pursuing an MBA from the university of Mark and St John in Plymouth.