Galenawabo Lekau Says UDC Backbenchers Are Being Shut Out by Cabinet

A growing rift inside Botswana’s ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has put backbench MP Galenawabo Lekau at the centre of a dispute over who gets a say in government decisions. Lekau says legislators are expected to defend policies they were never properly briefed on. Speaking in an interview, the Mogoditshane North MP and backbench representative said MPs can learn about major developments through the media, sometimes while Parliament is in recess. That leaves them with little information to explain decisions to constituents, he argued. Lekau accused Cabinet of bringing backbenchers in when votes are needed, while shutting them out of discussions that affect the electorate. He said MPs are expected to publicly support government choices without being consulted beforehand, limiting their ability to represent the people who elected them. He also claimed that legislators who voice disagreement face targeting, rather than having their concerns addressed. Lekau stressed that the MPs were not opposing the government for its own sake; they wanted to support decisions they had been informed about. “We are being disrespected,” he said. The complaints follow objections from UDC backbenchers to increases in travel document fees. The MPs called for the increases to be reversed and for wider consultation, while Lekau said Cabinet had not engaged them despite their concerns. Minister for State President and Leader of the House Moeti Mohwasa acknowledged that the relationship between Cabinet and backbenchers was still developing. He said it would be unrealistic to expect everything to work perfectly at this stage and urged dissatisfied MPs to raise issues through caucus and party structures. Mohwasa said Cabinet took the grievances seriously and would continue trying to address them. He framed the government and its parliamentary supporters as sharing one mandate, but Lekau’s account points to a basic complaint: MPs want to be brought into the conversation before they are asked to defend decisions in public.