Volume 52 Issue 7 - July 2014 : Others

Highlights of the Legislative Assembly meeting at Lobatsi from 5^th to 15 July were presentation of the Budget and debates on two hotly-disputed motions -  one to “deplore the irresponsible  statements  made by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. P. G. Matante) to the effect that the recent elections were improperly conducted” – and the other (by Mr. Matante) that “this Assembly has no confidence in the present Government”. In what was undoubtedly the stormiest legislative session ever held in Bechuanaland, many hard words were exchanged, but the atmosphere remained good-humoured throughout.

“IRRESPONSIBLE STATEMENTS”

On July 9^th, Mr G. Sebeso, Democratic Party member for Tswapong South, moved that the House deplore the irresponsible statements made by the leader of the Opposition at political meetings to the effect that the recent elections were improperly conducted.

A hot and lengthy debate followed, with speeches by all three Opposition members (Messrs Matante, Motlhagodi and Nkhwa), and, for the government side, by Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Nwako and Messrs. Segokgo, Sebotho, Masisi, Senamela, Kgabo and Mosinyi.

Space does not permit us to give a full report of the debate, which centred on repeated requests by Government speakers that the leader of the Opposition should either substantiate or withdraw his allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the elections.

The Opposition speakers said that their demands for investigation of irregularities before and after the elections had not been met. The R200 fee laid down in the law for petitioning the High Court, said Mr. T. W. Motlhagodi, was far beyond the financial power of his party.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Social Services, Mr Segokgo, said the motion had been brought to give the Leader of the Opposition a “verbal thrashing” for his irresponsibility. The country needed a responsible Leader of the Opposition, not a man who went sight-seeing through Africa. Mr. Matante should stop behaving like an empty barrel, making the most noise. If he had grievances he should take them through the proper channels.

The motion deplored Mr. Matante`s statements was passed by the House.

NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION

The Prime Minister, Mr Seretse Khama, in speaking against a motion of no-confidence in the Government, moved by Mr. Matante in Legislative Assembly, told Mr. Matante: “We are going to use our power for the sake of the country, regardless of what you feel”.

He added: “If you can convince the people by proper and constitutional means that yours is the proper party to take over, and not resort to any methods which perhaps may make us take a very dim view, all well and good”.

The debate was long and stormy, with many interruptions and insults flying in both directions.

Mr. Matante, in moving the no-confidence motion, claimed that he had “the mandate of the electorate” to do so.

In stating his grounds for calling upon the Government to resign immediately he listed a number of reasons including;

European and African Civil Servants, and “those placed in positions according to the old order” had been involved in intimidating people to vote the Democratic Party into power.

The Chieftainship had been used as an election issue.

The Democratic Party, a Government sponsored organisation could not have lost the elections. Even if the B.P.P had one thousand million pounds they could not have won.

The Prime Minister, replying, said that after hearing Mr. Matante speaking in the House, he realised why the B.P.P. in general and the Leader of the Opposition in particular, always held fort against the police.

He had thought it was just emotional sentiment, but now he realised that it was not just emotional, but that the Leader of the Opposition seemed to be “instinctively against law and order”.

Mr. Matante found the Civil Service to be a most corrupt organisation, which had helped the Democratic Party into power.

This indicated the confused type of thinking of the Leader of the Opposition, who now claimed to have “a mandate from the people” to call upon Government to resign. But how could he make such a claim when 130, 000 people had voted for the Democratic Party?

In replying to the debate, Mr. Matante, in the course of a very long speech, accused the Government of corruption by favouring “white faces”, of shelving the Skinner Report because of some items which might cause civil servants to resign, and of doing nothing about race discrimination in the hospitals.

Mr. Matante`s motions of no-confidence was rejected by the Assembly by 28 votes to three. ENDS

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