Where is the outrage, asks Rev. Dibeela
The Umbrella for Democratic Change secretary for international affairs, Rev. Dr Prince Dibeela has called upon the people of Francistown not to be too passive in the face of the plethora of challenges facing the country.
Dibeela was the guest speaker at the UDC launch of the Francistown West candidates last week Saturday at the Leseding grounds. “In my constituency, we stay for a week or so without running water from the taps. In Kanye, people recently drank contaminated water and some of them died. There was no apology. The country has been experiencing electricity problems where we go for a long time without power. The least you expect under the circumstances is disappointment and anger instead of the now often repeated Go tla siama,”(things will be fine) said Dibeela who insisted that nothing will change until Batswana confront their challenges head-on by demanding accountability from the powers that be. Dibeela accused the country’s leadership of impunity.
“Despite all this, they are treated like demigods. The country we grew up in has been taken away from us. There is persecution here and people are afraid. Those of us who are not afraid will fight the dragon to restore our country to its former self as the bastion of democracy,” said the church leader who called for righteous anger. Dibeela expressed disappointment that Botswana television broadcast “half truths” about UDC youth at Gomolemo Motswaledi’s memorial service. In his view, the youth were provoked by several instances such as police refusal to permit them to hold a peaceful march in honour of Motswaledi. Also the police had tried to disperse UDC members in Ramotswa who held a prayer gathering over the death of Motswaledi, he said. “Recently, when our members were putting up campaign posters in Lobatse, the Special Support Group (SSG) came for them. What we saw on Btv when our youth stopped Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) officials from talking at the Motswaledi memorial service was only the end result which is not representative of the whole truth,” he added.
The UDC official explained that Botswana does not belong to the President, his ministers or even the BDP but to Batswana as a whole. “There is no major shareholders. We should defend our country for posterity by rejecting all the bad things. Let us hold marches of protest. Power does not get handed to you as a gift from those in power. We need to be persistent in our demands for a better life because this is our country. We however should not be hostile to either the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) or Botswana Congress Party(BCP),” noted Dibeela who added that October 24th should be the day of change. According to him, Botswana is in need of divine intervention.
The fiery United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) pastor is not impressed with the level of infrastructural developments in Francistown either. For his part, Tambula, in accepting the mandate to represent the UDC, indicated that he was confident that he and his team, if voted, would competently represent the people of Francistown West. Tambula also noted that UDC was committed to change. He lamented the state of roads in Francistown as well as the unfinished projects such as the Francistown stadium.
