F/town mayoral race begins
Chakalisa Dube | Monday September 20, 2021 06:00
The BDP enjoys majority at the Francistown City Council (FCC) chambers and as a result it has the luxury to determine who becomes the mayor at its caucus. After a decision is made at the party caucus, the name of the proposed mayor will then be taken to the council chambers for voting and endorsement. The voting will merely be a formality because the BDP enjoys the majority in the council.
The term of office for the current mayor, Godisang Radisigo and his deputy Gaethuse Ramolotsana ends in June next year. Already, the charismatic Itekeng ward councillor, Lesego Kwambala is widely perceived to be a frontrunner in the race. Kwambala is considered one of the good debaters in the council and has often times chipped with very memorable motions.
The composition of civic leaders in the FCC is such that the ruling BDP is in majority with 15 councillors followed by the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) with six and the Alliance for Progressives (AP) has two.
Kwambala has always had ambitions to be city mayor. For instance, In 2019 he defied a party caucus after it had endorsed Radisigo for the position of mayor. At the same caucus, the BDP also endorsed Tatitown councillor, Ramolotsana, to deputise Radisigo.
Kwambala, a sociologist, went against the party and challenged Radisigo at the mayoral elections at the council chambers but narrowly lost. He had the backing of the opposition and some BDP councillors at the time. Although it is common cause that those who defy the BDP caucus are expelled, no action was ever taken against Kwambala.
Mmegi has established that at least eight BDP councillors back Kwambala’s bid to be city mayor, that is, out of a total 15 BDP councillors in Francistown. The opposition has nine councillors in the city. For Kwambala to prevail at a BDP mayoral caucus next year, he needs not less than eight councillors to back him.
Although Kwambala is in a very comfortable position, incumbent Radisigo has also been working tirelessly to get councillors to his side and sources have said he is in a good position to positively defend the position.
The race for the position of deputy mayor is yet to open up but sources this week told Mmegi that majority of BDP councillors are pushing for Central ward councillor, Lillian Griesmier to deputise Kwambala. Businessperson-cum-politician Griesmier defected from the AP.
Incumbent deputy mayor, Ramolotsana has reportedly indicated that he does not intend to continue serving when his term ends as he wants to solely focus on his business and the electorates,
The Tatitown councillor refused to comment when asked if he intends to retain his position. Ramolotsana has also often been reportedly not visible or doing enough in his position as deputy mayor.
The BDP councillors reportedly believe that ushering in Griesmier (a woman) as mayor will be one way of maintaining the gender balance within the council leadership position.
However, the biggest stumbling block is that both Kwambala and Griesmier are from Francistown East. For this reason, councillors within the ruling party are of the view that in the interest of striking a balance, the mayor and deputy mayor cannot be from the same constituency. This then leaves room for nominated councillor Modiri Lucas to succeed in his bid to be in the battle. Lucas is one of those who have reportedly been campaigning aggressively for the position of deputy mayor.
Yesterday Lucas was reluctant to discuss his reported interest for the position of deputy mayor. “I will cross the bridge when I get there. For now, my focus is on playing my role as the councillor. It will be wrong for me to discuss my interest for the position when someone is still in the office,” Lucas said yesterday in an interview.
The names of nominated councillor Gilbert Boikhutso and Editor Mothowabarwa who is councillor at Donga ward have also been mentioned with reference to the deputy mayor's position but not in an amplified tone as in the case of Lucas as well as Griesmier. Radisigo was reluctant to discuss the mayoral race when quizzed about his interest.
“I do not want to be distracted. My focus is now on helping the city to navigate the challenges brought by COVID-19. I also urge my colleagues to do the same rather than to be distracted by the battle for the mayoral race. In a nutshell, my colleagues will decide if they want me to continue or not after the elections,” said Radisigo.