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Botswana: BNF Youth Storm Council Meeting
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
18 September 2007
Posted to the web 18 September 2007
Chippa Legodimo
A group of Botswana National Front (BNF) youth stormed a full Southern District Council meeting yesterday to express their grievances. The group led by BNF councillor Lebogang Mmonatau disrupted the meeting shouting slogans just when the council chairperson Kentse Rammidi was about to read his speech.
Later, the youth went out and started singing in front of the chamber. Things calmed down when deputy council chairperson Leach Tlhomelang and council secretary Kaisara Mpedi emerged to receive a petition from the group. The demonstrators said they decided to storm the meeting because the council was taking their concerns lightly. The group is dissatisfied with the council's decentralisation process that has resulted in the establishment of Moshupa Sub-District. They say it is improper for Kanye, the district headquarters to be under Moshupa Sub-District.
"We find it totally paradoxical and uncalled for, for you to have squeezed such a big village like Kanye with two constituencies and close to 20 wards under Moshupa on the basis that councillors are predominantly of BNF and shall take control once Kanye separates with Moshupa. We expected it is meant to bring employment to residents of Moshupa. We are now left in wonder as instead you hired people from Kanye to do even simple jobs which most of Moshupa residents would do thus denying them a chance to enjoy the fruits that come with decentralisation," the petition says.
The group expressed concern about the poor infrastructural development in the district. The group stated that it brought the same petition a year ago but never got any response from the council and things have worsened.
"We feel it is worth noting that we did not take kindly to the fact that your office ignored our petition thus we feel seriously undermined and somewhat belittled. We warn that should this be repeated, then your office will have demonstrated to us that it is not a peace loving office and should be treated as such and the ensuing demonstration in such case will be staged in the manner that suits the character of your office," the youth said.
The BNF youngsters believe that poor planning by the council has resulted in unnecessary variations and cost overruns, which cause delays in project implementation. They demanded that the council should seriously consider the repercussions of putting Kanye under Moshupa. This means that residents of the village are now forced to travel to Moshupa for services rendered by council.
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In the past, some opposition councillors walked out of the council to protest the decentralisation process. They said it had cost residents of Kanye as most staff had been transferred to Moshupa. However, the demonstration, did not have majority support as only councillor Mmonatau took part in.
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| Copyright © 2007 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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