Tension brews within BDP in Bobonong
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday May 29, 2023 06:00
Aspirant contenders have started raising issues of unfair advantage, a case in point being a complaint from Bobonong constituency. Recently, Bobonong regional (BOMASE) committee leadership dismissed a complaint from Florah Basimane who had alleged that parliamentary hopeful Francisco Kgoboko was using his Trust to gain mileage against his opponents.
She had suggested that his Trust colours are similar to the party’s, therefore, they confuse the voters. A letter written by Basimane dated April 04, 2023, reads: “I am also part of the team which was appointed in Bobonong constituency to assist Moeteledi Senkhu to recruit back members to the BDP who left the party to stand for the 2019 General Election as an independent candidate and so far we managed to win back nearly all of them, 56 of which have already been welcomed back to the party.
As we are compiling a list of the rest of the members who will be officially welcomed back into the party in due course, I write here to complain about a party member in our branch called Kgoboko.” She also said during the run-up to their party primary election in 2018, Kgoboko started a Trust which was launched by former president Ian Khama, which was used to decampaign his competitors by then during the primary elections.
According to Basimane, the Trust then never became active after the elections as it was launched under circumstances which were damaging their party image. In the same letter, she said they are in the year of primary elections and the Trust has resurfaced and this time around it has several cars that are branded in colours that are closer to those of the party making it difficult for an ordinary Motswana to differentiate the trust from the BDP colours. Basimane said what is even more disturbing is that the cars are used around the constituency driven by party members, for example, the branch chairperson, Bobonong council chairperson and the youth chairperson and they are even used during party activities.
She added: “In my view, our village folks may see Kgoboko as a preferred candidate giving him an unfair advantage over other aspiring candidates who were observing the party rules and regulations thus awaiting party processes to register their interests when the time is right.” She said she feels that the choice of colours for the Trust was a deliberate move for Kgoboko to gain an unfair advantage and that it contravenes party rules and regulations. In addition, Basimane said it should not be forgotten that it was common knowledge that the actual sponsor of the Trust later surfaced as Khama. She said they are now witnessing the same trend as they get into the election year and this is raising a lot of suspicion amongst party members. She, however, called on action to be taken against Kgoboko since his Trust was morally, ethically and politically wrong and warrants party intervention. When commenting on the matter, Kgoboko admitted that he is aware of the issue.
“This matter was before the regional committee and I have not been in the country. I believe judgement was passed on it. I am not going to discuss party internal issues with the media. To, start with, my Trust has been there even before the 2018 primary elections. Where is this issue coming from honestly, one should look closely at my Trust colours,” Kgoboko said. Meanwhile, BOMASE regional chairperson Goitseone Phane said: “As the region, we have heard this matter and it was dismissed.
Those colours are not the same, again that is a Trust and we are a party. The party has not even announced the dates of primary elections. To start with, the complainant has failed to bring enough evidence during the hearing. It is disappointing that this issue has been leaked to the media. Action will be taken against members who are busy trying to tarnish the image of the party.”