Committee finds Boko guilty of plagiarism
Oarabile Mosikare | Tuesday March 15, 2016 15:25
Before the start of business on Friday, the Deputy Speaker Kagiso Molatlhegi informed Parliament of its decision, in a matter in which Boko was accused of plagiarising government’s land policy, during his debate on the budget speech.
In his official response to the budget speech last month, Boko made remarks on the servicing of land, which Lands and Housing minister, Prince Maele immediately said had been lifted verbatim from the Lands Policy.
The allegations threw the Parliament into chaos, with Okavango MP, Bagalatia Arone eventually being thrown out of the House after he switched off the minister’s microphone during the heated row.
The Parliamentary Business Advisory Committee investigated the allegations and ruled against Boko last week.
“The Committee has found that indeed there was evidence to the effect that the Leader of Opposition, Duma Boko plagiarised the government land policy during his budget speech debate,” Molatlhegi said.
The committee is made up of the Speaker Gladys Kokorwe, Leader of the House, Mokgweetsi Masisi, Boko, chief whips Liakat Kablay, Wynter Mmolotsi and Dithapelo Keorapetse.
Kokorwe, Masisi and Kablay are all members of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) while Boko and Mmolotsi are UDC MPs. Keorapetse belongs to the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
Apparently Boko was asked to recuse himself from the committee when the issue of plagiarism was decided. Kokorwe apparently called for a vote on the matter when the BDP and opposition members could not agree. Her vote sealed the fate of Boko, a former University of Botswana (UB) law academic.
Molatlhegi disclosed that the committee resolved that the Hansard, the official record of Parliament, should not be changed but remain as it is and be distributed to clients.
Molatlhegi’s announcements were badly received by opposition MPs, who demanded that the Deputy Speaker clarify the goings-on within the committee. “The Speaker should tell the House that the opposition did not agree with committee,” said Keorapetse. The opposition’s efforts to debate the ruling were ruled out of order by Molatlhegi.