Kutlo Motseta
18th November 2024
The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) just took office but Monday afternoon protestors gathered en masse and vociferously demanded action against corruption.
The event was attended by hundreds of sympathizers despite it being 2pm on a working day. Luxury cars with placards hooted, academics and ordinary Batswana arrived in droves, which reflects the optimistic mood around the country following a surprise result for some at the recent polls.
The hot weather did not deter the anti-corruption protestors. Dressed in all black at the Gaborone Secondary School(GSS) grounds between the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic church main cathedrals, the message was clear, ‘enough is enough!’
“Brides wear white on their wedding day. We are wearing black …. we are being baked in the sun which represents the applications that have been unfairly turned down, we are burning!” said the protest leader Setlhomo Tshwanelang, who galvanized the hundreds that had turned to protest against alleged corrupt practices at the CitizenEntrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA).
“Black represents that we are in a state of mourning our country is suffering from nepotism, corruption and racketeering,” said Tshwanelang.
He did not hold back repeatedly naming the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Thabo Thamane and the CEDA board as beneficiaries of corrupt practices.
“Madi a CEDA ke madi a lona. Ba a dirile pocket money ya bone … re batla ba sekesiwe ba tsaya madi a Sechaba e be ba a dira a bone. Bone ba bereka mo di offising madi ao ke a ba Batswana ba ba khutswane”, meaning, “CEDA money belongs to you. They have turned it into their personal pocket money …. We want them to be prosecuted they take state funds and make them their own. They work in offices but that money belongs to small Batswana [struggling batswana]”.
A charged Tshwanelang said he was filing a criminal complaint at the DCEC office on Wednesday against them.
However it will be after he attends to an interdict that was filed for defamation by some CEDA officers, which Tshwanaleng believes is an exercise in futility. The case will be heard on Wednesday at the High Court in the Central Business District(CBD).
He went on, “Ga u esa business application ko CEDA, ngwaga u tla feta u be u bona … ba dira business ya teng”, meaning, “when you submit a business proposal to CEDA, they will keep quiet, a year later you will discover … that they have implemented the idea,” the crowd murmured in approval as many people complained about stolen business ideas.
Samuel Mokgethisi, a 60 year old man from Dovedale near Sebina said, “I have been trying to get funding since 2002 and they have failed to assist me. It seems like they were stealing our ideas and giving them to their friends because of the way they were operating … I need the government to remove all CEDA employees and get new ones maybe something influenced them to do that. And now that we have a new government, I hope that it will change everything.”
An upbeat Goabaone Chwene, who is a 39 years old farmer was relieved.
“Finally my 420 km walk from Francistown to Gaborone is yielding results. My hunger strikes against CEDA is yielding results. I conducted hunger strikes at CEDA I was detained, but I got legal representation and the charges were dropped … They should not have named it CEDA, they should have named it BDP [Botswana Democratic Party] development agency. I submitted a proposal to run afarming project but the reasons they gave not enough for rejection.”
“One of the reasons they gave is that development costs are more than production … which is normal at the beginning. I felt insulted and neglected, so Thamane and his group must go, unless there is a higher authority that made them behave improperly,” said Chwenene.
The protestors marched through the main mall around the government enclave past the bus station, over the Gaborone West highway to the CEDA headquarters where they protested. They then proceeded to the Ministry of Trade …. to deliver the petition.
The Minister met the protestors with his Deputy and Permanent Secretary and said words to the following effect.
“The government is accountable and transparent … please give us some time so we can settle, we are still being briefed thereafter we can attend to your grievances … We understand that you are shareholders in CEDA … we also want what you want [elimination of corruption]”.
The last statement settled the uncompromising crowd. He promised to update them on progress about the matter in seven days.
Later on, Tshwanelang made it clear that the protest was only just the beginning, after which he announced his imminent criminal report to DCEC and said they are prepared to attack ‘other’ corrupt agencies.
“Re ne re tlile go bakanya, ka go re tshwengwa ke bo phokoje …. Re eta bo landboard, BURS (Botswana Unified Revenue Services), ga le sa bankanye re tlile go bakanya”, meaning, “We have come here to fix this [corruption], we have been harassed by cunning foxes … [be warned] we are on our way, if other agencies do not get their act together such as Landboard department, BURS Botswana (Unified Revenue Services) etc. we will come and help them fix this mess [corruption].”
