He said the party has started to address constituents about the matter. Speaking with The Monitor on Sunday, Mathoothe said his party is explaining to constituents what happened so that they understand the issue and how the ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is using its power to frustrate them.
Khama’s constituency was declared vacant on Thursday. This came after Khama failed to attend Parliament for two consecutive meetings. “We are not just folding our arms to the latest developments but as a party, we are busy campaigning.
Khama is also consulting his attorneys on the matter. We need to get ready on the ground because one cannot know what the BDP government is planning. We aim to retain the constituency as the BPF. We are not going to leave any stone unturned and this will help us work even harder than before for us to win it,” Mathoothe told The Monitor. He said what shocked them a lot as the BPF was that the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Pono Moatlhodi had gone to announce the matter before it was made official.
The MP said that on its own it shows how the matter was planned and that is the reason why they had also responded to Khama last Friday after the announcement. Mathoothe said in their response to Khama, they indicated that all his reasons for absenteeism are not strong enough and therefore they cannot help him.
He, however, said what is happening is helping their build-up to the 2024 General Election. According to the Government Gazette dated April 2023: “It is hereby declared and made known to all whom it may concern that the seat of the Member of Parliament of Serowe West has become vacant in terms of Section 68 (1) (b) of the Constitution of Botswana as read with Standing Order 16.2 of the National Assembly of Botswana. Khama, who was elected as Member of Parliament for Serowe West, has been absent from the sittings of the National Assembly starting from November 2022 up to April 2023. Khama has been absent from the National Assembly for two consecutive meetings thus far in the Session which started in November 2022 and did not have written leave from the Speaker for such absence.”
