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 Speaking to Mmegi at the Mmadinare airstrip, immediately after the presidential plane took off, Kedikilwe declared: “The launch has got nothing to do with things of the past. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) BOMASE - Bobirwa, Mmadi-nare and Selibe-Phikwe - region found it fit to invite Mogae to launch me and my team and nothing else. I believe in principles and I do not hate anyone”. The mood of the people at the rally was confusing. While some ululated and cheered, others remained stationary and quiet. “I have come to watch the proceedings and this is what I am going to do,” a woman at the rally who sat quietly said. She did not even respond to the party slogan.
Addressing the rally, Kedikilwe warned against complacency. “There is nothing obvious in politics. I believe in hard work to get the positive results and not to rest our hopes on good luck”. He said he was not going to take anything for granted in preparations for this year’s general elections and assume that it is obvious that the BDP is going to win. “This is a competition and we should treat it as such,” he said and added he has always encouraged BDP operatives to apply themselves seriously.
The BDP BOMASE region chairman, Kavis Kario echoed similar sentiments. “Mogae was not called to put off any political fires here. He was not invited to settle old scores with Kedikilwe but to launch the MP and his team for the 2004 elections,” he stated.
Mogae himself did not talk about his political rivalry with Kedikilwe. He said it was apparent that his party was going to capture the BOMASE region with ease. “We expect all those who were voted through the Bulela Ditswe primaries last year, to be all voted in during the forthcoming general elections,” he said.
The other speaker at the rally was cabinet minister Boyce Sebetela, who brought his crew from Btv and Radio Botswana to cover the event. He dismissed opposition parties saying they had nothing to offer. Sebetela, who is MP for Palapye, called on the electorate to ignore opposition parties because they are making unrealistic promises. “As the ruling party, it would be naïve of us to claim that we can eradicate poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and other societal ills overnight. This is a process”. Mogae’s launch of Kedikilwe comes after a political rivalry that between the two men that is still playing itself in the party. With Mogae’s open support, Kedikilwe was last year ousted from his powerful post as BDP chairman by Vice President Ian Khama. This irked Kedikilwe to the extent that he claimed that Mogae and Khama belonged to one party faction. Given the developments, Kedikilwe had to shelve his ambitions to challenge Mogae for Presidency in this year’s elections.
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