Mr. Kitso Mokaila
It remains to be seen whether President Ian Khama will make Kitso Mokaila a specially elected Member of Parliament after he lost his seat to an opposition candidate in Good Hope-Mabule constituency.
Mokaila was the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources and it is up to the Head of State to decide whether he values him by reappointing him to continue with big projects under the ministry especially the Morupule B, where he was said to be making progress.
The ministry is responsible for coordinating development and operational activities in the minerals, energy and water sector and it also formulates, directs and coordinates the overall national policies
and strategies on minerals, energy and water resources.
Under ministry, the minister overlooks the mining portfolio, energy and water resources in the country. Water and power have been thorny issues for the government as billions of Pula have been spent on dams, but the Southern part of the country where most of the industry and people are based face water shortages while the northern side has more dams, but poor reticulation means it cannot be transferred to the South.
Energy on the other hand has been a big head ache for government ever since South Africa’s Eskom reduced exports to Botswana to meet own requirements. Botswana has been experiencing electricity difficulties as the P11 billion Morupule B Power Projects is not reliable. Before, the general elections, Mokaila revealed that all the 4 units at the 600 MW facility were down on the back of boiler failures. Mokaila has often complained that the project was politicised.
The project was built by China National Electric Equipment Corporation (CNEEC) while Fichtner was the owners engineer. James Mathokgwane of the youthful Umbrella for Democratic (UDC) party beat Mokaila in the polls while as the sametime the ruling party saw its popular vote fall to less than 50%. Other cabinet members who lost in the polls include; Johnie Swartz, who was the minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology and Keletso Rakhudu, the
assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development.
Olebile Gaborone, who was the minster of Local Government and Rural Development Assistant also lost and Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri, who was Assistant Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration. They were joined by Patrick Masimolole, a former junior minister at
the Ministry of Education and Skills Development. The cabinet members are victims of a hit list of undesired leaders prepared by Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU),
who feel hard done by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) led government.
Khama will be sworn in as President of Botswana on October 28 and could announce his choice of Vice President and Cabinet on October 29.