CDC opposition councillors unite
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday September 11, 2015 14:47
BCP councillor for Khurumela ward, George Makhura, said the opposition has been working in solidarity ever since the commencement of the new council meeting.
“We have been supporting each other in many instances but we were not a single entity. We used to have our own caucus and the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) had their own but now we have agreed to unite and become one entity. We share our caucus and we pray that our leaders and followers embrace this unity because it could benefit Batswana. We humbly pray to our members to support us in this mission,” said Makhura.
Makhura praised the UDC president Duma Boko and vice president Ndaba Gaolathe for not giving up on the umbrella and also for not giving up on the BCP despite previous collapsed talks. He also stated that they are working on recruiting some of the youthful Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) CDC councillors who showed interest in joining the opposition coalition.
“We thank God for Boko and Gaolathe for continuing their quest to fight for the rights of the people through the UDC. We also thank them for not rejecting our efforts for talks even though the talks have failed before. It clearly shows that they are fighting for a better Botswana and we pray that our leaders find a common ground because it is through this coalition that our lives and the lives of our nation could be changed.”
“We also have some councillors from the BDP who want to join us, most of them are youthful councillors who see things the way we do and we will continue recruiting others. A lot of things are not done right because of political lines but we are all here to serve the interests of the people not to be directed to do someone’s interests,” he said. The UDC councillor for Khumaga/Moreomaoto in Boteti, Thomas Kgethenyane, shared the same sentiments.
“We have been working together in motions but we continuously have been warned by both party leaderships. Now because we see that there are likely chances that the parties could unite, we have decided to go ahead and strengthen our relationship here because we have always seen that together we can bring change in the way things are done in our district for our people.”
“We are seriously supporting the coalition and we hope this time the talks will be successful. To show our support for a coalition we have jointly elected a treasurer and we are raising funds for the Boswelatlou council seat at Lobatse where we will elect a team from our district to go and support our candidate,” Kgethenyane said.
According to BCP vice president, Kesitegile Gobotswang, alliance of elected representatives is something that is accepted and should have long been done.
“Coalition of elected representatives at councils is very much in order and in fact it should have happened immediately after election. At Parliament we are collaborating as opposition MPs when tabling motions and it should also be done at all councils across the country. It is encouraged and it is very much in order,” he said.
Efforts to solicit comments from the UDC leadership on this matter could not bear fruit as the UDC spokesperson Moeti Mohwasa was not available to comment.