MAJAGA TIGHT-LIPPED ON NEXT MOVE

FRANCISTOWN: Controversy-ridden Nata/Gweta legislator, Polson Majaga, has remained tightlipped on speculation linking him to the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and his political future in general following criminal charges levelled against him and suspension from the ruling party.

Majaga’s political future has been subject of speculation since last week after the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) slapped him with a 60-day suspension. He was suspended after he was arraigned in court on defilement charges.

Although some opposition parties such as the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) have called on the BDP to suspend Majaga, the legislator has since been linked with the BPF.

Others have speculated that the 46-yearold legislator intends to resign from the BDP and remain an independent Member of Parliament (MP).

“A lot of things have been said about my political future and the defilement charges levelled against me, but I will talk when the time is right. I do not think that this is the right time to talk. I have appointed a spokesperson. In future you will have to engage with him if you want me to respond to your enquires,” Majaga said.

On the other hand the BPF national executive committee (NEC) has said that it will not engage the Nata-Gweta legislator with a view of attracting him to its establishment.

Last week, BPF spokesperson Justice Motlhabani said although the party respects Majaga’s right of association, he will not be ‘welcome’ into the BPF for now.

“Although we believe that Majaga is innocent until proven guilty, we will be reluctant to engage him with a view of having him in our party. We are mindful of the bad social perception against people who are facing charges such as defilement,” Motlhabani said.

“That is why we will not engage him now. We have not been able to identify our members from the lower structures who have approached Majaga, but we have reliably been informed that they did approach him. At a NEC level we have not engaged him and we will not engage him to join the party. In short he will not join us for now,” the BPF spokesperson added.

Motlhabani further indicated that at the party’s national executive level they only engaged Majaga with a view of having him under their fold towards the 2019 general election, but nothing tangible materialised.

Meanwhile, political analyst and University of Botswana (UB) political science lecturer, Leonard Sesa is of the view that Majaga should not be welcomed into any party for now. Instead he should be given time and space to clear his name.

“I am not saying he is guilty. However, the challenge is that if at all he is found guilty the party that had welcomed him (before being trialed) will be strongly perceived to be condoning those who violate the rights of children. Such perception will then be counterproductive,” Sesa noted.

“If any party (opposition) welcomes Majaga before he clears his name, it will reflect badly on the opposition as a whole because the opposition has in the past been at the forefront calling for the BDP-led government to suspend political leaders and those leading other arms of government facing criminal charges or deemed to have acted in a manner deemed unethical by the society,” he added.