Botswana Democratic Party’s Chief Whip, Liakat Kablay has called on his party leadership to let go of those who do not want to be Ministers.
In an exclusive interview with The Voice from his Parliamentary home this week, Kablay admitted the controversy surrounding the recent Cabinet reshuffle was terrible for the party’s image.
Highlighting former Finance Minister, Thapelo Matsheka’s shock redeployment to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development, Kablay said if the rumours he wanted to resign from cabinet are true, President Mokgweetsi Masisi should not stand in his way.
“There’s no Mama’s baby in politics and Masisi should let those who want to step down from cabinet do so, the same way he did with Unity Dow who joined the backbench from cabinet,” insisted Kablay.
The Chief Whip cautioned against allowing certain individuals ‘to hold the party at ransom’ because they want specific positions.
Bringing up a long-held concern, Kablay complained that in the past parliament sitting, the backbench often found themselves having to defend the party on matters they knew little about.
“The Covid-19 tenders issue is getting out of hand and our voters are demanding answers from us, same as the opposition MPs. We find ourselves defending things that we don’t even know just for the sake of the party!” griped the Letlhakeng/Lephephe Member of Parliament.
He revealed the backbench will demand the names of those corruptly winning Covid-19 tenders be made public.
“You can find that one man and his family are gaining and then we come to defend, this will be our downfall if we don’t act on time!”
Kabaly believes the situation is so serious that if action is not taken soon, the BDP should forget about retaining power in the next elections.
“People are angry out there; they want answers on what is going on from us but like I said we are clueless.”
