Salakae decries government sabotage
Leinanyana Tsiane | Friday June 12, 2015 15:57
Salakae was reacting to the developing trend where he seems to be snubbed at official events. Since surprising many by beating the once powerhouse and one of the longest serving BDP MPs and cabinet ministers, Johnnie Swartz last October, the youthful Umbrella for Democratic Change legislator hardly officiates at government events. He allegedly gets invited to events taking place in the area which are later withdrawn without any valid reason.
Salakae told Mmegi that he was invited to be the guest speaker at the District Health event in Kole but at the eleventh hour a directive came from the Office of the President (OP) that the invitation should be withdrawn and replaced by the Gantsi District Council chairman.
“I know the high ranking officer at OP gave instructions that I should not be the guest speaker at the event and it happened exactly like he said it should,” Salakae said.
Another incident which particularly angered the MP was the June 16 Commemorations where his invite has since been revoked. Salakae said when he enquired from the District Commissioner’s office, he was told that it was a mistake that he was sent the invite and that the office sent two invites to two guest speakers, something that he said was unbelievable.
He dismissed what he termed a lame excuse and pointed out that people know the truth of the matter and who was behind all of that. Salakae revealed that he was also invited to be the guest speaker at one of the primary schools and out of the blue was then told that the invite had once again been withdrawn.
Following that, he convened a meeting with the Regional Education Director to ask what was happening, and was informed that the invitation was withdrawn because it was short notice, something the MP also found unbelievable. The officer concerned, Galesengwe Mohube confirmed to Mmegi that the invite to the MP was withdrawn when they discovered that protocol was not followed, and therefore the invitation not approved.
He explained that under normal circumstances when a dignitary like the Minister or MP is invited by a school to officiate at any event they intend to have, protocol dictates that the school informs the regional office, which in turn issues the invitation.
“I can confirm that the invitation was withdrawn but there were reasons for that. The invitation was sent six days before the event and that meant us having to invite other people from outside the Ministry of Education like the Council Secretary but the timing was rather too short hence the non approval of the invite,” Mohube explained.
Salakae found the trend disturbing arguing that as an elected representative, he should be given space and allowed to represent the electorate. He believes that the snubbing is politically motivated and found it to be an abuse of public office by government officers, pushing personal agendas.
“The invitations I receive are not my initiative but I get them from people so some really have to understand that,” said Salakae.