Lobatse Mayor lied on television?

Lobatse Town Mayor CarolineLesang and the Deputy TownClerk Oganne Gontse havecome under heavy criticism, mainlyfrom the Botswana National Front,(BNF) for the claims they madeduring a BTV Talk Show program,Molemo wa Kgang, in which theyclaimed that the town was developedwith good infrastructure andlow unemployment of about 11%.The BNF constituency chairpersoncouncilor Gofaone Kedise said“the BNF and Lobatse residents ingeneral have been angered by suchstatements.

 

 

”Kedise said the emergencyKgotla meetings addressedby the BNF councilors and the areaMember of Parliament NehemiahModubule, have revealed that Lobatseconstituents are displeased withremarks that the town is doing welldevelopment wise.“For that reason we call upon theTown Mayor to use the same platformshe used and publicly apologiseto the community for falselydepicting Lobatse as a town that iswell developed when the contrary istrue,” he argued.The Tsopeng North councilor saidreports have indicated that Lobatse’seconomic development has declinedand continues to decline rapidly,something he said worries hisparty. He observed that local investorshave and are exiting the townand that there is snail pace growthin physical infrastructure as wellas collapse of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises.

 

 

He said they have witnessed, underthe BDP led council and centralgovernment, the Lobatse TeachersTraining College, the only onein the Southern Region, relocatedand merged with Serowe Collegeof Education. “During this processover P300 million was used in theexpansion of Serowe College andin the process all academic and nonacademic staff were relocated tothe Serowe College,” he lamented.Kedise further said, “MasterFarmers Feeds which employedover 85 locals was relocated toPilane.

 

 

Lobatse Tile Limited wasclosed indefi nitely, leading to 220jobs loses. Certain Services fromGeological Survey were relocatedto Gaborone and this led to about13 families moving to Gaborone.Senior Judges and Administratorsof the High Court were movedto Gaborone, after the new HighCourt started operating in Gaborone.There have been retrenchmentsat Lobatse Clay Works, oneof the major economic drivers ofLobatse. There is also uncertaintyin the beef industry as the BMC iscollapsing.”Kebitse said the mass exodus ofpeople from the town resulted innumerous abandoned public andprivate property.He said the town is in a stateof emergency hence the need forserious introspections by the BDPleadership.

 

 

“We need leadershipthat is able to provide strategicguidance; that can speed up infrastructuraldevelopment, inspire investorconfi dence and protect theintegrity of the town. The BDP politicalleadership has demonstratedtheir incapability to lead this townand consequently the mayor mustresign,” he said.