BCP primaries: Most sitting MPs unchallenged
Correspondent | Monday October 2, 2023 06:00
Political analysts are of the view that the move by the BCP to hold early primaries underscores its seriousness in preparing for the anticipated 2024 General Election following the party's decision to pull out of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and go it solo.
Fireworks are expected in only two sitting BCP legislators’ constituencies, Okavango and Selebi-Phikwe East. The seats are held by Kenny Kapinga and Kgoberego Nkawana respectively, while the remaining Members of Parliament (MPs) are unchallenged.
The five MPs who are unchallenged are party president, Dumelang Saleshando of Maun West, vice president and Bobonong MP Taolo Lucas, secretary-general Goretetse Kekgonegile, Kesitegile Gobotswang and Carter Hikuama of Maun East, Sefhare-Ramokgonami and Ngami MPs respectively. Nkawana will square it off against Dimpho Mashaba.
Mashaba is the former Botswana Congress Party Youth League (BCPYL) publicity secretary and UDC 2014 parliamentary candidate for Selebi-Phikwe East. In Okavango, former Deputy Commissioner of Botswana Police Service (BPS) and Ambassador of Botswana to South Africa and Zimbabwe, Kapinga will slug it out with Haidongo Haidongo.
It will be the fourth time that Haidongo is trying his luck to get to Parliament. He previously lost the BCP internal polls three times to BCP veteran and late Okavango MP, Joseph Kavindama.
Haidongo also lost the BCP primaries to ex-BCP legislator Bagalatia Arone in 2009. Arone is now a BDP activist. In 2019 following the defection of Arone to the BDP, Haidongo was expected to slug it out with Kapinga but he pulled out at the 11th hour “in the spirit of comradeship because having many primaries would create instability in the constituency.” Fierce battles are also expected in Nkange, Selebi-Phikwe West, Palapye and Mahalapye West constituencies which are under MPs Dr Never Tshabang, Dithapelo Keorapetse, Onneetse Ramogapi and David Tshere respectively.
The above four legislators were suspended and later fired by the BCP for defying a party caucus that said “all BCP MPs should not participate in the proposed UDC caucus scheduled for July 10, 2022 or any subsequent caucus intended to or the agenda of which was to deal with the position of Leader of Opposition (LOO) in the Botswana Parliament until after the direction of the party conference scheduled for July 15-18, 2022”.
The four MPs, who are dubbed 'Judas Iscariots', a biblical figure who betrayed Jesus, in some BCP circles for ‘betraying their party in favour of the UDC’, were initially suspended with Kapinga but he later smoked the peace pipe with the BCP. While some sections of the BCP labelled the quartet as Judas Iscariots for ‘betraying the BCP’, they stood their ground saying that their decision to defy the BCP position was based on principle because they could not criticise the UDC, a political bloc they used to get to Parliament, in political rallies and then advance its agenda in Parliament. To the expelled BCP MPs, doing so would be awkward. In Nkange, one of the constituencies that some consider as winnable, a two-horse race is expected between Motlhaleemang Moalosi, a lecturer at the University of Botswana (UB), and prominent human rights attorney, Morgan Moseki.
In 2014, Moalosi represented the BCP in Shashe West but he lost against Fidelis Molao of the BDP. In 2019, Moalosi did not contest the elections. He recently told Mmegi that he relocated to Nkange because he comes from Marapong village which falls under Nkange. On the other hand, before relocating to Nkange, which is also the constituency where his home village of Tutume is located, Moseki stood for parliamentary elections in Francistown East on four occasions but lost. It remains to be seen who between Moalosi and Moseki will prevail in the BCP primaries since the former has been making inroads in the constituency before the arrival of the latter.
In Selebi-Phikwe West, another gruelling battle is expected between Professor Brothers Malema, an economics professor at the UB, and Reuben Kaizer. The Malema camp accuses the Kaizer team of not abiding by the rules and regulations governing the BCP primary elections. Recently, the BCP executive committee visited Selebi-Phikwe West in a bid to quell fires that are burning in the constituency.
The BCP view Selebi-Phikwe West as its stronghold and wants to retake it from Keorapetse and some of BCP councillors who defected to the UDC. Keorapetse and all former sitting BCP legislators and councillors are already assured of standing for next years’ general elections unopposed after the UDC promised them that if they left the former to join the latter, they will not be subjected to primary elections. A two-horse race is also on the cards in Palapye where Ethel Gaampone, one of the few women who is trying her luck to represent the BCP in the 2024 plebiscite, and Gape Motswaledi. While little is known about Gaampone, Motswaledi is the younger brother of the late founder and president of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), Gomolemo Motswaledi.
In the 2019 General Election, Gape, then an Alliance for Progressives (AP) parliamentary candidate, performed dismally when he came fourth with 1,306 while Ramogapi, a then BCP activist who was seconded by the party to represent the UDC in the general elections, garnered 5,582 votes. In Mahalapye West, long time BCP activist Moncho Moncho is already assured of a shot at Parliament since he has no opposer.
In an interview with Mmegi this week, the spokesperson of the BCP, Professor Mpho Pheko, said the party will hold its primary elections early in some constituencies in order to enable it to fully prepare for the 2024 polls. Pheko vowed that the BCP is taking its internal polls very seriously because it wants to attain state power next year.
“We also want to retain all the constituencies that were held by our former colleagues who betrayed us by defecting to the UDC. We are working very hard to retain these constituencies because they are our strongholds. We also want to convincingly win all the new constituencies and wards that were created in the North West District (NWD),” said Pheko.