BCP sacrifices Gaborone Central and Mogoditshane to AP
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday April 10, 2023 06:00
The two constituencies that the BCP are willing to give away include Mogoditshane and Gaborone Central. The AP, the Botswana Labour Party (BLP) and the BCP have formed a new coalition to contest under in the upcoming 2024 General Election.
Negotiation talks regarding constituencies are at its advanced stage, the BCP previously announced. However, the impasse in some of the constituencies was between the AP and the BCP.
The BCP has worked hard to make a mark in those constituencies over the years. Gaborone Central constituency which their party president, Dumelang Saleshando, wrestled from the BDP in 2004 up until he lost it to AP’s Phenyo Butale in 2014, is one constituency they have sacrificed. In 2014, Butale who was under the UDC then won Gaborone Central with 4,601 while Saleshando came second with 3,727 and lastly the BDP with 3,191. This is the same constituency which party spokesperson Mpho Pheko contested in the last general election under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) ticket and lost to incumbent legislator and BDP’s Tumisang Healy.
The BCP has managed to build its membership and structures in this constituency for years. As for Mogoditshane, which is totally a different ball game altogether since it has now been divided into two following the delimitation exercise, the BCP has given the AP both constituencies. In the Mogoditshane constituency in 2014, the UDC won the constituency with 4,180 against BCP’s 3,846 and BDP’s 3,787. Mmegi has learnt that the party task team revealed the latest news on the ongoing constituency allocation at their new coalition meeting. The negotiations were held recently and the AP had requested that it should be given time in order to consult its party central committee on the latest developments. “Parties were not agreeing mostly on seven constituencies which include Lerala/Maunatlala, Mogoditshane, Gaborone North, Francistown West, Tati West, Nata/Gweta and Gaborone Central. But the key ones were Gaborone Central and Mogoditshane which were at the centre of a dispute.
It was agreed that whoever takes Mogoditshane and Gaborone central must take one more while the other one was attached to four constituencies,” a source within the committee told Mmegi.
The source said the negotiations are supposed to continue next week Wednesday and it looks like the BCP desperately wants the cooperation to work. It is understood that negotiations include only 57 constituencies apart from four new ones. Moreover, another member said the BCP had sacrificed a lot since it had done a lot of spade work at both Gaborone Central and Mogoditshane constituencies. “This is too much for BCP since it has been doing well in those two constituencies.
Look at its performance, for all general elections. If one looks at it closely, one may find that it only wanted nothing else but peace. They deserve to be given those two constituencies. The AP is not strong without other opposition parties and its performance and membership are still low,” the source said. The source further revealed these sacrifices might bring unhappiness amongst some BCP members in those areas who have been working hard to ensure that party structures do not collapse.
The source also said the reason why the BCP was given Gaborone Central and Mogoditshane in the 2019 general elections when it was a UDC affiliate, was because of its strength in those areas. The BCP secretary-general Goretetse Kekgonegile refused to comment on the matter. “I do not discuss internal party matters with the media,” he said. On the other hand, Margret Nasha who is part of the AP delegation refused to comment on the matter. “Not everyone is the spokesperson during the negotiations and we must all respect procedure and internal issues,” she said. On the other hand, the University of Botswana political analyst Mokaloba Mokaloba said, “we will await the final report on how they have divided constituencies amongst themselves. In the meantime we will treat it as hearsay. However, if this is the case, it’s arguably informed by the 2014 elections where Phenyo Butale and Sedirwa Kgoroba won the constituencies under the UDC ticket. Coalition itself is always about sacrifices.”