He is convinced that residents of the area understand him better than other candidates. “If opposition parties claim that they are going to win, then that will be a fallacy. At BDP we do not promise people impossibilities. For the past five years, BDP has been growing and this builds our confidence,” he said.
For his part Saleshando said: “At the BCP, we take it that for the past five years, we have been working hard to earn our mark. I take it that this is a time at which we can comfortably state that we deserve to win this area”. As part of the BCP’s preparations, he said they keep party voters’ registers and continuously compare them with the national voters’ rolls. He was worried that during the exercise of inspecting the registers, his party detected about five cases where people registered using open spaces instead of plot numbers as their places of abode.
“We have registered our concern and the inspection is continuing, at the end of which, the cases will be taken to court for hearing. These are people from areas outside Selebi-Phikwe”. He has however said members of the BCP have registered in large numbers to vote. He added that a majority of workers are with the BCP and called party supporters to accept gifts offered by the BDP and then punish the ruling party during elections.
Moupo said his party was doing its best. “Our main campaign method is to check our support and woo the masses to our side, through the house-to-house campaign. We have been checking on the registration process and we are disappointed to state that the voter registration is moving slowly”. He however, declared that the level of BNF support in the area was promising. He dismissed allegations that the BNF was hard hit by the 1998 split that resulted in the birth of the BCP. “The situation on the ground indicates that we are making major inroads in the area and we are likely to reap a lot in the process. We are confident that the BNF will maintain the momentum and we will continue to lead in the area as this area was previously our stronghold,” he said.
With sufficient work, Moupo was confident that the BNF is likely to make a strong comeback. He admitted that a lot ought to be done for his party to make meaningful impact in the area. As a measure of restoring BNF strength in the area, Moupo indicated that other constituencies have started working closely with his area to build a strong support base. Selebi-Phikwe is billed to host the party’s annual conference in July. This will be done to test the strength of the BNF and to reinforce the party campaign. “History is likely to repeat itself. You will remember that in 1994 when we won Selibe-Phikwe constituency, comrades had virtually camped in this area. We do not underestimate our opponents.”
