Nkaigwa calls for castration of Blessers

If Gaborone North legislator, Haskins Nkaigwa had his way, no man would ever dream to be called a ‘blesser’ because of the sanction he contemplates for such offenders.

This week, the no-nonsense MP stunned Parliament when he suggested that blessers be castrated. This was after Mahalapye East MP, Botlogile Tshireletso called for tougher measures against men who defile children. The blesser phenomenon is the latest craze where older men who are usually financially sound engage in sexual relationships with women a lot younger than they are.

In some of the cases, teenage girls have found themselves involved men as old as 60. “We cannot have older men who continue sleeping with children. Ba tshwanetse go fag*****,” said Nkaigwa

“Bana jaanong le bone ba gakaletse go tsaya borre mo go bommaabone,” added Tshireletso. The MP also called for the age of consent to be raised from 16 to 18 years as stipulated in the Children’s Act. She advised fellow MPs not to take the issue of blessers as a joke.

But the leader of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), Duma Boko said there is no legal stance stopping romantic relationships between two consenting adults irrespective of the age difference. H equipped, “There is no prohibition between a 65 year old man and 20 year old woman having a relationship. In the process of that relationship gifts and other things may be exchanged. The law does not prohibit that,” he said, adding that this will be a violation of private life for individuals.

In her statement of 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence, Tshireletso said, “We as Botswana Parliamentary Caucus on Women want the Blesser phenomenon to fall and call on our male compatriots to heed our call towards the protection of women and children’s rights in a goal to ending gender-based violence.”