F/town West MP furious at govt’s denial over hungry constituent
Francistown West Member of Parliament (MP) Ignatius Moswaane has furiously dismissed a press release from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as lies.
In the statement, released on 20 May and signed by Permanent Secretary Boipelo Khumomathare, government condemns a circulating video chronicling a distressed Monarch woman who collapsed due to hunger.
The video, which emerged on Facebook on Sunday and quickly went viral, shows 40-year-old Boitumelo Chibude gasping for air after collapsing following a hunger-induced diabetic attack.
The mother-of-one shared her story, which seemed to suggest gaping deficiencies in the Covid-19 Food Relief Programme.
In a highly charged interview, she accused social workers of failing to respond to her desperate need for food.
Chibude told The Voice that she had knocked repeatedly at the social workers’ door to no avail until she approached the area MP Moswaane for assistance.
Following her collapse, and the subsequent circulation of her video, Chibude finally received her food ration from social workers and from other well wishers.
However, in response, the Ministry, through its PS, described the video as ‘false and misleading’.
“It is an intention to discredit the noble response of the Government to buttress the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic,” insists the press release.
The PS further claims Chibude was assessed for eligibility to receive the Covid-19 food relief and was given packages on 7 and 13 May.
The Voice reached out for further clarification from the Ministry Communications Officer, Masego Ramakgati, who referred the paper to the Francistown’s Town Clerk, Lopang Pule.
“He’s the right person to talk to. The press release was edited from the one they generated,” Ramakgati explained.
Unfortunately, efforts to contact the Town Clerk proved futile as his mobile rang unanswered.
Moswaane, however, did not mince his words in response to The Voice’s questions.
“They are lying,” fired the maverick MP.
“That lady was never given any food relief package until after the day she collapsed. This is just a government being unnecessarily defensive and lying,” he reiterated.
Moswaane believes the denial is ‘all Botswana Democratic Party politics’.
“They are trying to turn this issue into something which it is not. They want a way of apportioning blame and charging someone with spreading false information on Covid-19,” said Moswaane, who himself is a long-standing BDP member.
Despite his political allegiance, Moswaane has never been afraid to speak his mind – a trait that makes him extremely popular with his constituents, as proved by his landslide victory in last year’s general election.
Meanwhile, the lady at the centre of the controversy stuck to her story of not being given anything to eat for over a month until she got up to see Moswaane.
“Someone came and showed me the letter. I wish I had the power to know the person who wrote that rubbish. I’d deal with them!” said an angry Chibude.
“How can someone just lie. I never received any food until I collapsed,” she maintained.
Chibude said she has been left angry and confused by government’s ‘false information’ about her.
“I think they are all laughing at me. They are making fun of my poverty!” she concluded bitterly.
