Dow withdraws her utterances about Boko
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday December 9, 2015 09:03
“Since this House allowed the Minister of Education to attack me on personal matters, I think I should be given time to respond to her. I will attack her personally where it will hurt the most. I take this matter very seriously because the Minister is alleged to have said something in my absence on Monday.”
“Lets go into people’s personal matters now and I am prepared for it. I believe you have never seen me in this state but today you are,” said the visibly angry Boko.
Although it was not clear to other parliamentarians and members of the public what Dow had said that had made Boko angry, some MPs seemed on cue.
Immediately after, Boko ordered for a transcript of the Hansard and that it should be read. The Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Kokorwe then requested a 20-minute adjournment so that the Hansard could be availed and read out.
Ten minutes later, the Speaker called the General Assembly and the MPs took more than 35 minutes in that meeting.
Boko told Mmegi while he was heading to the General Assembly that it is alleged that Dow had talked about his children in Parliament in his absence, in a bad way.
“I was not there yesterday but I understand she said something like, I had abandoned my children. I don’t know how true it is and that is the reason why I want the Hansard,” he said. However, the other MPs were not allowed into the meeting except elders of Parliament who included Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi, minister Slumber Tsogwane, Mother of the House Pelonomi Venson–Moitoi, and UDC’s Ndaba Gaolathe and Sedirwa Kgoroba. The Speaker’s intention, it emerged, was to try and reconcile the two.
When they came back, Dow requested that the Hansard record on the matter be deleted.
“I request this House that all utterances that I said about Boko be taken out from the Hansard,” Dow said.
But the request was not immediately accepted. Maun East MP Kostantinos Markus stood on point of order and demanded answers on why the Hansard could not be read in Parliament since the utterances were made in the same House.
“Why should a decision be announced to MPs without reading the Hansard first?” Markus asked. Assistant Minister of Local and Rural Development Botlogile Tshireletso shared the same sentiments as Markus.
To which, Venson-Moitoi’s response was that the reconciliatory meeting had agreed that the record be removed.
“Nothing is against Parliament standing orders. We had a private meeting to reconcile the two and what has been agreed is not going to be changed,” Venson-Moitoi said.
Masisi then told the MPs to desist from seeking further explanation since the matter had been resolved. “We talked about what we will do going forward to avoid this kind of issue and every leader will talk to his members on this issue,” Masisi said.