Molefhi BDP Loyalty Questioned

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent | Monday May 31, 2010 00:00

 

Molefhi is the Selebi-Phikwe East Member of Parliament and also the Minister of Lands and Housing. Sesame/Kagiso ward councillor, Tebogo Matlhogonolo said Molefhi phoned him and told him the press conference should not go ahead as councillors had planned.

He said the MP also sent him a message on his cellphone to stress his point. The message reads, 'Good evening honourable, ka kgang ya press conference, party lawyers says it should not proceed.

Any statement to the press should be by party head officer.' Selebi-Phikwe former councillor, Benjamin Bagayi said the MP must explain his actions. 'The MP must be brought to task. We cannot be expected to do nothing when our electorate are confused and do not know where we stand. These revelations are shocking and we did not expect him to have tried to stop this meeting,' Bagayi lashed out. BDP activist, Sylvester Masweu also shared the same sentiments as Bagayi, adding that people should not fear Molefhi because they elected him. The town mayor, Lekang Mukokomani said they had been given permission to go ahead with the press conference by the party head office.  He explained that the conference was held under the auspices of the BDP and was done in good faith to defend the party. Responding to the allegations, Molefhi explained to The Monitor in a telephone interview that he did not try to stop the press conference but was simply advising the councillors that the head office should be the one responsible for any statement to the press. 'I asked the party lawyer, Parks Tafa if the press conference should go ahead and he said no.

The secretary general was also not aware of the meeting. The press conference should have been organised by the head office,' he said. Molefhi added that he was told about the meeting on Wednesday evening. He mentioned that he was not trying to stop the press conference but was offering advice and he expressed surprise that he was misunderstood. The BDP executive secretary, Dr Comma Serema said he had given the councillors permission to go ahead with the press conference because it was done in good faith to the party. 'They explained to me that it was meant to defend the party and that is a good thing,' he said. Selebi-Phikwe East office administrator, Amogelang Mojuta also came under heavy criticism for being linked to the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD). Tshiamo Ikaneng of Bontleng Ward said when they were organising the press conference; they came across information that Mojuta was one of the organisers of a BMD meeting that was held at Travel Inn on May 2, that was addressed by Gomolemo Motswaledi. Ikaneng's comments were made after Selebi-Phikwe East branch treasurer; Ivy Mogwera had asked if it was true that Mojuta was associated with BMD. She said Mojuta was hired to his current position because he was a BDP member. Reacting to the allegations, Mojuta explained to The Monitor that he was not hired because of his BDP membership.

He said his job is not to serve the interests of the BDP but he is a civil servant. 'It is not true that I was involved in organising the BMD meeting. Yes, I was at the meeting but I got there late when it was about to end,' said Mojuta.