Opposition unhappy as Guma leads Parly
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday April 5, 2017 16:16
Parliament on Monday elected Guma to preside over the National Assembly with effect from April 4 until the Speaker returns on Friday.
Guma defeated the Gaborone North legislator, Haskins Nkaigwa with 33 votes against eight.
After the announcement of the results, the opposition Chief Whip, Wynter Mmolotsi stood on a point of order to protest the results on the basis that Guma was a truant person who does not care about Parliament, hence they cannot allow such a person to preside over Parliament.
In an interview, Mmolotsi said as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) they decided to recuse themselves from the General Assembly last week because they were not part of the decision that endorsed Guma for the position.
“We decided to recuse ourselves and not attend the meeting because we think that Guma is not the right person for that position.
Mmolotsi added: “We know all of the MPs’ capabilities and Guma is not the person to be appointed to that position hence we could not support his appointment because the ruling party MPs had already endorsed him”.
He stated that Guma is always absent and does not take Parliament seriously, therefore as the opposition MPs they could not support his appointment to preside over Parliament.
The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Kagiso Molatlhegi and a number of the Members of Parliament (MPs) are in Dhaka, Bangladesh attending the 136th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and related meetings, which took place from April 1-5.
The Botswana Democratic Party Chief Whip Liakat Kablay said the ruling party MPs endorsed and voted Guma because he is the senior MP hence capable of presiding over Parliament.
Kablay said they were informed that the Speaker of the National Assembly, Gladys Kokorwe will be off-duty until this Friday.
It is reported that Kokorwe is currently not feeling well and is off-duty to seek medical assistance.
Sources say Kokorwe is likely to retire before 2019 because of her health condition.