02 Sep 2019

With determination to propel Takatokwane constituency to a better-developed area, three aspiring candidates on Sunday vowed to put their political experience to use should they be elected to office.

The candidates, Mr Friction Louwe of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Mr Jacob Kelebeng of Alliance for Progressives (AP) and Mr Filbert Nagafela of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) said their experience could be used to transform the area while their parties also had rich manifestos that would address issues such as unemployment.

 Mr Louwe, who served for 10 years as chairperson of the Letlhakane Sub-district Council said several projects in the constituency were undertaken during his reign.

He said he deserved a seat in Parliament to continue to advocate for developments at a higher level.

He said following discovery of coal in the area, setting up of a mine would result with much-needed jobs.

The BDP, he said, promised to transform the lives of Batswana, hence allowing use of ploughing fields for any business purposes.

Mr Louwe further said the BDP manifesto was aligned to Vision 2030, which followed extensive consultation with Batswana.

For his part, Mr Nagafela said he wanted to return to continue where he left as a legislator. He said some of the projects such as Takatokwane Unified Secondary School and electrification of Motokwe were his ideas.

He expressed concern that Takatokwane residents were given untreated borehole water and said once elected, he would advocate that a treatment plant be established in Maboane.

Mr Nagafela also said he would request De Beers to establish a diamond centre in Maboane saying as much as the mining company drew water from the village, the residents had to benefit through the diamond downstream activities.

He said under the UDC government, student-teacher ratio would be drastically reduced while there would be a teacher and an assistant teacher in each class.

Mr Kelebeng of AP said Takatokwane area had the potential to be the country’s breadbasket but said this could only happen if government assisted the residents by developing boreholes and trained them on modern farming methods.

He also said the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) should offer better prices for livestock.

Mr Kelebeng said he would also advocate for allocation of plots in the area saying Kweneng District Council discriminated against Takatokwane constituents since it only serviced plots in Molepolole and Mogoditshane at the expense of others.

He said he was disheartened to learn that no one from the area had been allocated a ranch at Tshwane and Motokwe, although the residents had previously asked to be provided with one to keep their livestock.

Mr Kelebeng said the ranches were allocated without consultation with communities.ENDS