Saleshando says BCP can go it alone

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Friday May 17, 2013 00:00

 

 'As the BCP we can stand on our own. BCP can bring change,' he asserted.Saleshando who is also Gaborone Central MP, said he has never contested elections when he is not confident of a win. Dismissing the opposition umbrella, he argued that a hastily assembled coalition has never been effective, citing the example of Egypt.  Turning to the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government, he said there are many signs that show that the system is collapsing.

He cited the National Stadium, which he said was being renovated for the World Cup 2010 but remains incomplete.He also spoke about constant water and power failures.  He added that parastatals are crumbling.  In Saleshando's book, these are some of the signs that show that the BDP has reached its expiry date.

On the other hand, Saleshando said his party has a proven track record of articulating national issues.  He said when the government decided to sell the national airline, Air Botswana, to Air Link some few years ago, it was the BCP that blew the whistle. He said government abandoned the move when the BCP threatened to take the matter to court.  He said when President Ian Khama was piloting Botswana Defence Force aircraft when he was still Vice President, the BCP took the matter to the Ombudsman.  Earlier on when addressing the same rally, BCP spokesman Taolo Lucas said his party will address the issue of land allocation in the next two weeks across the country.  The BCP official said they would also present a petition to the minister responsible for land.

Lucas said it is clear that there are people who are favoured when it comes to land allocation.  He lamented that there are people who have never been allocated plots despite applying for land a long time ago.  He said some have even gone into retirement without being allocated a plot.  Lucas revealed that some companies and individuals own large chunks of land, among them Tati Company in the North East. 

He said when his party attains power, it would negotiate to buy land from companies like Tati Company.The BCP official said the government has been confiscating plots of poor individuals who fail to develop them after five years.

Lucas said his party is against such a move.  He pointed out that the government is not doing the same with undeveloped farms that are owned by absentee landlords.  Lucas argued that it is not that there is shortage of land in this country but the only problem is with the manner it is being allocated.  BCP firebrand and former youth leader Lotty Manyapetsa said his party is only interested in taking power through the ballot.  He said this is what the BCP committed itself to when it was formed in 1998.

Regarding recent concerns about personal investments of some of the BCP leaders, Manyapetsa said his party is not against people becoming wealthy as long as it is done legally.