Consensus for BDP in Tlokweng unlikely

The BDP is looking for a candidate who does not belong to any faction for the imminent by-election. Factionalism is blamed for the 2014 general elections loss in this constituency. This scourge saw a candidate who won the primary elections, Elijah Katse being suspended by President Ian Khama and replaced by former MP Olebile Gaborone.

Gaborone suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the late Same Bathobake of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) with 6,442 against 3,867. The Botswana Congress Party’s (BCP) Jacob Zachariah came third with 1,195 votes. The BCP is expected to rally behind the UDC candidate since the two parties have a memorandum of agreement for by-elections. The position of Tlokweng MP became vacant after the death of Bathobakae late last month.