MASISI SUSPENDS ASSISTANT MINISTER OF HEALTH
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has suspended the Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Sethomo Lelatisitswe, for contravening Covid-19 protocols.
Lelatisitswe’s one-month suspension follows his family’s unveiling of a tombstone, which took place over the weekend in Letlhakane causing a public uproar calling for the junior minister to step down.
“Masisi was embarrassed by his minister’s behaviour and had no choice but to suspend him,” an inside source told The Voice a few hours before the release of the press statement that announced the minister’s suspension.
However, Lelatisitswe’s incident was not the first time Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) had broken the law by contravening Covid-19 laid down protocols as the party once came under fire for attending a party member’s funeral in large numbers. The party’s Central Committee, too, was at one point under the spotlight for contravening and breaking Covid-19 regulations.
However, Lelatisitswe’s family gathering sparked social media outrage after the minister posted images of the event on social media, much to the dismay of the public who complained that the legislator and his family had breached the Emergency Powers (Covid-19) Regulations 2020.
The public put the junior minister under pressure and questioned why no action was taken against him although it was clear that they had broken the law.
A badly written apology issued by Lelatisitswe did not help the situation either as it got the public to pile pressure on the police to compel them to take action against the family.
Letlhakane Police have since charged a senior member of the Lelatisitswe family after he was identified as the event organiser.
“It is true that we charged a senior member of the family P5 000 for contravening Covid-19 regulations,” said Letlhakane Police Station Commander, Superintendent Michael Maphepu. However, efforts to get a comment from Lelatisitswe and government spokesperson, Andrew Sesinyi, hit a snag.