12 Nov 2013

Youth, sport and culture minister, Mr Shaw Kgathi has criticized the statement that was made by Lobatse MP and also leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), Mr Nehemiah Modubule in Parliament.

Mr Modubule made the statement when responding to President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s State-of-the-Nation Address. The Lobatse MP had said President Khama’s speech avoided topical national issues that emerged during the year under review and was similar to all the previous ones with a few updates.

Mr Kgathi who was also responding to President Khama’s address said the speech was strong, adding that “indeed the President was accounting to the nation.” He said opposition leaders were elected to Parliament to contribute towards the national policies and laws and not to be the editors of the President’s speech.

“Our duty as leaders is to come here to make policies, formulate laws and implement them, not to become editors,” he said. Mr Kgathi’s, who also Bobonong MP, said he wished that there could be a live coverage of Parliament proceedings, so that Batswana could see opposition leaders criticising the national policies and programmes that had been put in place to improve their lives.

He said some of the initiatives such as the Presidential Arts Competitions were introduced in order to try and revive the Setswana culture and also to showcase the diverse cultures in Botswana. He also challenged members of the opposition to come up with a better policy that could challenge the Youth Empowerment Scheme.

Mr Kgathi also explained that the decisions that President Khama came up with were collective decisions from the cabinet, adding that “it is not his sole decisions.”Ends