- Worried by fabricated answers in Parliament
- Wants Masisi to act against fibbing ministers
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
Chief Whip Liakat Kablay intends to meet President Mokgweetsi Masisi about doing something about ministers who give fabricated answers in response to Parliamentary questions.
In an interview with The Botswana Gazette following a persistent outcry by MPs about this, Kablay emphasised that there is need for action to stop the habit.
“I appreciate that cabinet ministers always make an effort to provide good answers to questions in Parliament, but there is also a need to cross-check the information for veracity,” he said.
Floodgates of criticism
“The ministers must understand that providing untrue answers tarnishes the image of the Masisi-led government. It opens the floodgates of criticism of our government and has the potential to negatively affect the BDP in the general elections.
“Therefore, it is high time I reported these kinds of ministers to President Masisi so that action may be taken. When a question is posed in Parliament, the general public becomes agog because they want to know what is happening with their tax money.”
The Chief Whip noted that in some of instances, Parliament has pressured ministers to bring evidence of what they are saying, citing the instance where the assistant minister of Local Government Talita Monnakgotla said 50 occupants of the old market in Francistown were relocated to alternative to make way for face-lifting when that was not true.
Another answer that MPs dismissed as untrue was when Mines and Energy minister Lefoko Moagi vehemently denied there were plans to shut down Masama Coal Mine only for the mine to confirm the shutdown a few days later.
Seleka Springs
The issue of fabricated answers in Parliament is not new. During the 11th Parliament, then Deputy Speaker Kagiso Molatlhegi called then Defence minister Shaw Kgathi to order for lying to the Parliament.
The minister was subsequently asked to withdraw a statement he had read that Seleka Springs, a company owned by former president Ian Khama’s younger brothers, had never won tenders from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) between 1980 and 1998 when the time Khama was the Commander of the BDF.