JUST BECAUSE I’M A WOMAN
I know why they targeted me
► Dr Pheko’s new car sold for P81K
► Her financial struggle triggers another UDC rift
► BPF, AP, BPP slam BNF-BCP public spat
► Her car attached and sold for 81 000 toward legal fees
► Says she will contest elections again in 2024
► Women have the Constitutional right to be at the decision-making table
Dr Mpho Pheko, who contested the parliamentary seat for Gaborone Central constituency under the UDC ticket in the 2019 elections and lost to BDP’s Tumisang Healy, is the talk of the town after her assets were attached by sheriffs over a debt incurred from petitioning the outcome of the election.
On Friday her Toyota Corolla was sold for P81, 000 to settle part of the P565, 000 legal bills for the petition.
Pheko explained that this matter had been ongoing since October last year when the sheriff came for her.
She said that UDC had requested an extension but their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Pheko is one of 15 members of the UDC who had gone to court to petition the election outcome but lost the case with costs after it was thrown out by the High Court.
She said since the total bill was P565, 000, they had resolved that each person would raise and fork out P41, 000.
She said through mobilisation of some UDC constituents and other well-wishers, she had raised most of this amount but the sheriff had come knocking on her door.
One would expect her to be down in the dumps but when speaking to The Midweek Sun this week, Pheko was chirpy and in high spirits.
She said having her assets attached by a sheriff was painful and a momentary challenge, and that like a phoenix, she would rise from the ashes.
“These are some of the challenges that one prepares for when they enter politics. I have seen such things happening to many other people, some of who have gone through worse than I have."
Pheko said her car was still new and it had only clocked very low mileage when it was attached. She said it had been challenging to adjust to life as a pedestrian but she was coping and expressed hope that she would get another car soon.
“Some people have been really supportive. In the mornings I have a friend who gives me a lift; there are people who are willing to help me," she said. She also expressed gratitude to her comrades who had rendered support and showed interest in helping her buy a new car.
“I hope that the momentum will be maintained,” she said. Pheko said she was targeted in the whole fiasco because she is a woman. She said that she had even asked the sheriff why, of the 14 others who are all men, she the woman, was hounded so badly.
“Furthermore, it was the first time I ran for office, and some of the men are more experienced in politics but the sheriff claimed that he could not locate those men.
"How is that possible? Some people have argued that I was targeted because I am a woman and it is true."
She said there was a conspiracy she was targeted with the hope that she would panic and maybe take out a loan to pay off the legal costs, but said she was never pressurised to incur more debt.
“I was not tempted to take a loan. When they took the car, I said, ‘Take it, I will get another one some other time.’
"At least we have now paid off part of the debt while we still raise funds to pay the balance.”
Pheko said when she entered politics, she was aware that it would not be a walk in the park.
She had seen other women in politics being bullied and treated badly and unfairly, but the reality hit hard.
“When you enter politics, you psychologically prepare for the highs and lows but still, when bad things happen you think, ‘Oh my goodness… it is happening to me.’ It remains a challenge for women to be active in partisan politics because the systematic challenges in our political landscape demoralise them," she said.
Pheko pointed out that in politics, men have the advantage of cultural goodwill and they are automatically assumed to be better candidates for the 57 constituencies in Botswana by virtue of being men, while women are pushed to the back.
She however said women in Botswana should not allow this to deter them because change is always resisted.
She said women must be prepared to continue fighting for representation and sit at the decision-making table.
“As women, we have to fight until the decision-making table is diverse." She said men who argue that women are incompetent when it comes to legislative issues know that they are lying.
She said women are just as able and should stop being fearful. “Firstly, we should look at how women, how Batswana women have the ability to raise children alone and singlehandedly run households while making ends meet - it shows their power and strength. "I encourage Batswana women to stop being fearful because when this nation tumbles down, we are going to struggle the most, together with our children.
"At the end of the day, women have the Constitutional right to be at decisionmaking tables and they should ensure that they have a voice and contribute to develop programmes and laws that benefit them," she said.
Despite the political turmoil she finds herself in, Dr Pheko says she will contest elections again in 2024. She said the challenges she has faced in the political landscape have fired her resolve to keep fighting. “I am a political junkie and yes, it hurts to have gone through what I faced but I am prepared to be resilient and withstand it all. It is this mental cushion that is keeping me on the path of pioneering the new generation of women leadership in politics."
When you enter politics, you psychologically prepare for the highs and lows but still, when bad things happen you think, ‘Oh my goodness… it is happening to me.’ It remains a challenge for women to be active in partisan politics because the systematic challenges in our political landscape demoralise them