Masisi responds to Khama, UDC
Staff Writer | Friday December 13, 2019 14:35
Responding to questions at the State House during a press conference this week he did not have kind words for the petitioners. On November 26, 2019 the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) led by its President Duma Boko filed 16 Parliamentary elections petitions at the High Court citing irregularities.
“What ‘s at test is the integrity of our governance. It is not longer Mokgweetsi Masisi. It is no longer the BDP. It is the integrity of our governance. It is the integrity of our institutions. It is also a questioning, a disparaging questions particularly those external aided and abetted by all those internal. Whatever they feel injured by the outcome of elections to also be disparaging not only to the institutions but also to the people of Botswana,” Masisi said.
He also said the turn of events is the most debilitating expression of disparaging conduct adding that it is condescending, extreme patronising.
“It is questioning of our integrity as a sovereign nation state because we have our laws that govern us and start with the basic law because these elections were not only conducted on the basis of the Electoral Act, they were also conducted on the basis of the requirements of the Constitution that we have always used. And this time, you must ask yourself, why this time? When did we get this creativity of discovering the flaws in a Constitution that has not been altered? We do we get that incredible ridiculousness of questioning the legitimacy of our electoral law that has not been altered since the last elections and the IEC has not been altered. You must also remember that we had put in place a law that should have allowed you to use the Electronic Voting Machine [EVM] to vote.”
He added: “Isn’t it curious that you also need to travel to a neighbouring country with whom we have diplomatic relations and seek to steer and want to cause instability on the basis of imaginations that have been very difficult to evidence even on the basis of forensic capacities by some?” Masisi also took the opportunity to respond to issues raised by former president Ian Khama during the latter’s first ever local press conference.
“The main reason being that my name and character continue to be tarnished by this regime including more recently the so-called “Butterfly case” involving Welheminah Maswabi. I therefore wish to take this opportunity to set the record straight on this issue. I will read my Statement and thereafter we will answer questions concerning this matter… I am deeply disturbed that the good name of our country and that of Bank of Botswana have been discredited by such wicked, reckless and immature conduct by the State,” Khama said.
In response to this Masisi said: “Everybody is entitled to a view. I hold that dearly and sacrosanct to our peaceful co-existence. I have pledged as I still do and repeat my commitment to being adherence to the rule of law. There is nothing I can do. There is nothing I can do when an investigation goes a particular direction. There is nothing I desire to. There is nothing I desire to do if prosecution takes a particular direction”.
He said every single citizen in this country is perceived to be innocent until proven guilty.
“Now because of our freedoms, even you are at liberty to talk about dramatic adjectives how we might crash land whatever, it doesn’t matter, the issues are before the courts and they have to deal with them. It is true the issues have come before us and have dented our image, but we have to answer the question, should we be because we are afraid of our image to be dented and sweep under the carpet?
I say finally, finally the truth will emerge and everybody who feels injured by the process, injured by allegations, the courts of law are open to anyone to seek redress. That also goes to government, it goes to anybody. We live in a civilised orderly world. Botswana has not changed not one bit. We are where we are because we chose to be where we are. I am not intimidated by any of these grandstanding statements.'