Keorapetse defends his position in Parliament

Botswana Congress Party’s (BCP) Selibe Phikwe South area Member of Parliament Dr Dithapelo Keorapetse has defended calls for him to dump his role as the leader of the minority in parliament.

The calls were made by some concerned members of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) who feel that the position is an insult to UDC which has since roped in BCP as a partner. Keorapetse explained that BCP joined the UDC in principle but that documents binding the two are yet to be finalised.

He said since his party has joined the UDC, it is waiting for the UDC to finalise some paperwork before all BCP councillors and MPs can be officially absorbed completely by UDC. Keorapetse continued that once all the paperwork has been finalised, the UDC will have to write a letter notifying the Speaker of Parliament and the relevant ministry of their final changes as an opposition unity in Parliament.

“What this simply means is that the UDC should submit its registration and constitution to the Registrar of Societies as well as sending their emblem to the IEC and after all these loose ends are tied together then I will relinquish my position to become one with UDC. People should learn to be patient as we are in the process of achieving exactly what they want,” he explained. UDC Secretary General Wynter Mmolotsi concurred with Keorapetse that the MP will dump his position as the leader of the minority once paper work has been finalised.