*BPF firebrand blasts government policies
After a turbulent 15-year political journey to the National Assembly, Member of Parliament (MP) for Serowe South Leepetswe Lesedi has earned a reputation as one of the fiercest critics of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) government.
The former police officer, ex-councilor for Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), and one of the founding MPs for Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), has been labeled an “outlaw” for his unyielding stance against several policies of the new administration.
Lesedi spoke to The Voice staffer BAME PIET, sharing his thoughts on the current political landscape, arguing that the UDC risks becoming a one-term government if it does not change course.
How would you compare the 12th and 13th Parliament?
The 12th Parliament was better, the then ruling party told us that the government coffers were low, but they managed to keep the country going. As much as we condemned the previous BDP government for mismanagement and corruption, we commend them for the programmes they had for the general population to improve their lives. All those programmes have since been phased off and there is nothing for the ordinary people as we speak right now. No medicines in hospitals, no maintenance of the country’s highways, and schools are in bad state. Buildings are collapsing. Pharmacies have hiked prices for medicines and pills, medical aid schemes cannot cope. So, imagine what the situation is for the unemployed?
Where do you think things went wrong?
Among other things, we were in support for the idea of raising the old-age pension to P1,400 but we held the view that it should be implemented gradually. Imagine how many pensioners we currently have, and you decide to increase what they were earning by P600.00? There are approximately 115,000 old age pensioners in Botswana, which means that the budget has increased by over P70 million per month, something that was not planned for. Another big blunder was the government’s decision to write off the P500 million Chema-chema loans, turning them into government grants? Then disgruntled university students march to the Office of the President seeking a review of their allowance, and guess what, their allowance was instantly increased. These are good examples of how not to run a government.
But two assistant ministers from your party are serving in Cabinet, are you not part of the government?
The BPF is not part of the government. We don’t know how the two assistant ministers got those positions. Like everybody else, we heard about their appointment from the President’s announcement. Nothing whatsoever was discussed with the BPF leadership or general membership. It was a strategic move by the President to put them in Cabinet and they are some of the biggest troublemakers in our party. The BPF is not planning to merge with the UDC but I can leave that to the forthcoming congress to decide the future. However, we do not want to be part of the government that is going to last for one term in office.
What are some of the policies that you disagree with?
Like I said, the old age pension has gone up to P1400.00, but there are no medicines in hospitals which means that the pensioners are forced to spend the money on acquiring the critical medicines for which process have skyrocketed. Another issue was the P300 grant for nursing mothers which was promised in 2024, which I have no problem with. My biggest issue is that these promises were made at a time when the economy was not doing well and wonder whether the government is going to pay the arrears? Even worse is the fact that the country could be facing the worst malnutrition crisis in decades because there is no supplementary food for infants. Tsabana is no longer available in clinics but there is an outstanding P300.00 grant.
You seem to be opposed to a lot of government policies, why?
I think we’re heading for a total failure. I am convinced that the UDC is going to be in office for one term only. The people can see that what is happening is not what they expected or voted for. Right now diamonds are not selling as we are told, and the government cannot control the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak, which means beef exports are not performing. But I am suspicious – why does it seem as if the disease is only spreading rapidly in the area of the Minister of Lands and Agriculture when we all know how he came into office?
You are in the PAC, what led to some of the problems we are seeing today?
One of the defining moments was the 2022 motion by then Gaborone Central Tumisang Healy who pushed out opposition MPs from Parliamentary committees. That’s when we started to witness massive corruption from the highest officer to the lowest civil servant. MPs, Ministers and their wives, even their side-chicks established companies that milked the government of millions of pula.
But the government conducted a Forensic Audit to establish what happened, do you doubt the exercise?
When the idea came up, we proposed a Commission of Inquiry but they refused. I can tell you that nothing is going to come out that Audit. People are going to walk free and right now, the public confidence in the government is not impressive at all.
Your last Word?
I cannot at this point say who is going to win the 2029 general elections but the future is not promising at all. The people’s hearts are not won on elections day. It is a cumulative effect that ultimately drives people towards or away from you as a ruling party. They should change the way they do things and set their priorities right before it is too late. The bye-elections will give us an idea of what 2029 elections will bring.
