Opposition protest govt�s lack of consultation
Imi Mokgethi | Wednesday October 26, 2016 17:20
The demonstrations commenced in Botshabelo and ended with a political rally at the General freedom square that was addressed by the parties’ officials including Botswana Congress Party (BCP) president Dumelang Saleshando.
The protests were also against the electronic voting machines (EVMs), high unemployment rate as well as poor students academic performance in public schools.
When addressing the rally, attended among many by the recently retrenched mine workers, Saleshando highlighted that in a country that prides itself with democracy, the government should have thoroughly consulted with the opposition leaders as well as the public before closing the mine and amending electoral law.
“The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has made history by changing the general elections law to favour them in the coming general elections without consultation. They introduced EVMs which have been rejected in many countries, and this is a clear indication that they are up to something,” he said.
He further stated that the government’s failure to introduce economic diversification initiatives in the copper/nickel town before shutting down the Mine showed that the ruling party has run out of ideas.
Saleshando said that the mine still holds valuable copper and nickel that can be mined until the year 2036, as it has been reported by experts, adding that the executive’s reasons to put the Mine under liquidation are invalid.
“One of their reasons was that the copper selling prices have gone down, but this is not a new thing as we always see diamond prices also dropping, but the mines never close down. If they do not permanently shut down the mine, they want to give it to someone else in order for them to continue benefitting,” Saleshando said.
Furthermore, Saleshando noted that the opposition’s intervention seeks to come up with a way forward to address the situation, highlighting that one of the best moves would be to change government and bring in leaders who would make informed decisions that benefit all citizens.
He further pointed out that there is no way the situation can be separated from politics, saying that the decision to close the mine was made by politicians and only politicians can solve this problem.
“All the problems we are currently experiencing in our country are caused by our leaders and can be solved in the 2019 general elections by voting out the BDP-led government,” Saleshando said.
In addition, he explained that the opposition parties’ coalition negotiations are about to end, thus calling on the members not to pay attention to speculations in the media and assuring them that the outcomes will be positive.
“We have learnt a lesson from our past failures and this time around that won’t be repeated. We are going to choose only one president whom we feel is fit for the position and I want to reassure you that there won’t be any fights for the presidential seat,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Francistown South, Wynter Mmolotsi reiterated that the government had better options to consider than putting the Mine under liquidation, such as re-capitalising and re-structuring.
He further slammed the ruling party for having failed to keep their promises they made during the 2014 general elections campaigns.
“BDP promised to create employment opportunities for the citizens, but what they are doing now is the opposite as people continue to lose their jobs while many live in abject poverty,” he said. He further promised that the opposition party MPs will do all they can to have a motion on BCL Mine closure discussed at the upcoming Parliament session billed for October 26, though the Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi has suspended the standing orders as the session is meant to discuss the National Development Plan (NDP) 11.