Serowe South MP Leepetswe Lesedi has turned up the heat on the Ministry of Health, where fellow BPF legislator Lawrence Ookeditse serves as Assistant Minister, over the government’s handling of persistent medicine shortages
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
A rift has emerged between Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) MPs Leepetswe Lesedi and Lawrence Ookeditse over the party’s relationship with the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) government, with Lesedi attacking government spending priorities while Ookeditse dismisses what he describes as petty politics.
Health Spending
The differences surfaced during the launch of BPF candidate Loeto Porati for the Sefhophe council ward bye-election, where Lesedi questioned government spending on artists while public health facilities reportedly grapple with medicine shortages.
Lesedi made it clear that the BPF’s representation in Cabinet would not prevent the party from holding the UDC government accountable for its shortcomings.
Cabinet Divisions
The Serowe South MP took aim at the Ministry of Health, where Ookeditse, the Nata/Gweta MP, serves as Assistant Minister, questioning the government’s handling of reported medicine shortages.
He argued that funds spent hiring artists could have been channeled towards procuring essential medicines for struggling health facilities.
Opposition Identity
Lesedi warned that the BPF’s representation in Cabinet would neither buy its silence nor compel it to defend government decisions it considered wrong.
He maintained that the party would not shoulder responsibility for UDC failures merely to protect BPF representatives serving in Cabinet, adding that hopes of maintaining cordial relations with the governing coalition were increasingly being undermined.
Ookeditse struck a different tone, dismissing what he described as petty politics and character assassination, which he said were outdated political tactics.
He argued that BPF members criticizing their MPs for serving in the UDC-led Cabinet were overlooking the broader objective of participating in government to address national challenges.
“Boko appointed me in Cabinet because our manifesto resonates with that of the UDC on National Health Insurance,” Ookeditse said.
Reached for comment, BPF interim deputy secretary general Modiri Jojo Lucas downplayed suggestions of a personal confrontation, insisting that Lesedi’s criticism targeted UDC government failures rather than Ookeditse.
Lucas said the BPF was neither consulted nor involved in any arrangement preceding the appointment of Ookeditse and Baratiwa Mathoothe to Cabinet.
He argued that the appointments could not silence the BPF or prevent it from scrutinizing government decisions, particularly when the party had not formally agreed to join the governing coalition.
Lucas, however, accused Ookeditse of being caught between his Cabinet responsibilities and political allegiance to the BPF.
“The position of the party is that we are an opposition party, so we ought to hold the UDC government accountable and criticize them where there is fault,” Lucas said.
His remarks underscore tensions surrounding the BPF’s relationship with the UDC as the party seeks to preserve its opposition identity while some of its MPs serve in governmen
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