‘Several BDP pledges not in development plan’
Former Cabinet minister and Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) secretary-general, Mpho Balopi, is unhappy that several electoral pledges of the ruling party never make it into the development plans of the country.
This is contained in a parliamentary question the Gaborone North legislator is to ask the Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration Kabo Morwaeng in Parliament today.
Balopi is now a disgruntled party member who has fallen out with the President. He wants the minister to further state what measures, if any, are in place or in the pipeline to ensure that pledges against which the ruling party was elected into government are incorporated into development plans; whether government will not consider setting up a permanent structure where the ruling party and government can occasionally consider areas where alignment of manifesto pledges and development plans can be made.”
Still in Parliament, Maun East legislator Goretetse Kekgonegile is expected to ask the Minister of Basic Education Fidelis Molao to brief the legislators on the magnitude of learners’ disobedience, truant behaviour or disorder in schools throughout the country, “In particular: the concentration of occurrence per school and region; the ministry’s strategy in combating or eradicating learners disorder in schools; if the ministry is not considering emphasis on corporal punishment (inclusive of the whip) rather than Euro-centric measures such as suspension and expulsion; and the ministry’s plans in providing security at schools’ main gates where crime is rampant and is being mostly perpetuated by non-students.”
Kanye North legislator, Thapelo Letsholo, will ask the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Mmusi Kgafela to apprise the House on Botswana’s gaming industry, more particularly what is happening to the National Lottery and what is causing the delay; when will the National Lottery licence will be issued; if citizens are marginalised in the issuance of the National Lottery licence; and if not, how they are going to benefit in the Lottery as business proprietors and as players; when will sport betting licences be issued; if he is aware that there are table games played out in the streets where there is betting; and if so, why has the Gambling Authority not done anything about including them under their scope of licencing; how much in total has government spent on the Gambling Authority since its establishment; and how many fact-finding and benchmarking missions, has the Gambling Authority undertaken since it was established and what is the cumulative cost of those trips.