Kedikilwe: The disinclined, loyal man of the people
Ryder Gabathuse | Thursday July 16, 2026 09:58
“The constituents simply implored me to be their secretary at Palamaokuwe ward. There was mistrust between the people and their then councillor whom they associated with the then emerging Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD),” recalls Kedikilwe. At one of the party meetings, constituents duly made a decision to rope him as their ward candidate in the impending General Election. Their position was that, they have found a “councillor in me.” Initially, the businessman-cum-politician had eschewed the offer as he was not ready to be active in politics yet, since he had his businesses to run. Those who had earmarked Kedikilwe as their candidate, would then trail his wife and other party elders to convince him to take up the assignment and they did the rest of the spade work for him. One of the days, a party elder in the ward, Osi Lesetedi, buttressed the message of the people for Kedikilwe to carry their assignment with promises that they would conduct house- to-house campaigns for him and hand over victory on a silver platter at the polls. “I was reluctant to stand. They informed me that they had already done the spade work. “This was in 2008 and in the elections year 2009, I was the party council candidate at Palamaokuwe and the people’s promise came to pass.
” He had agreed to contest on the understanding that, “If I lose, I would disappear into thin air.” After two five-year terms as Palamaokuwe councillor, Kedikilwe resolved to step down and focus on his businesses that needed his unwavering support. Besides, his butchery businesses, he is into horticulture and also rears cattle. It was in 2020 that he was forced to accept appointment as a civil servant in a political office manned by his then area Member of Parliament (MP), Tshekedi Khama as a senior administrative secretary. “Unexpectedly, I received a call from MP Tshekedi proposing that I serve in his parliamentary office and I obliged,” explained Kedikilwe. His journey to Parliament started in earnest only in 2023 when Tshekedi’s term had to be terminated. The termination came after his former boss had crossed the border into South Africa and Parliament dominated by the then ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) opted to end his tenure as an MP after he had absented himself from Parliament for two consecutive parliamentary sessions. Kedikilwe, however, still remembers that the BDP-dominated Parliament punished Tshekedi when “they had documentation that spoke to his state of health at the time. The information was shared with Parliament and they still went ahead and chucked out Tshekedi.” “You know, I had submitted documentation that supported Tshekedi’s continued absenteeism from parliamentary work,” he elicited.
Although he was reluctant to fill his former boss’ shoes, Kedikilwe would last minute throw his name into the hat and contested the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) primaries and won. Other challengers included James Kgalajwe, Chimbidzani Chimidza and Omphile Motsokono. He would later garner sufficient votes to defeat BDP’s Moemedi Dijeng, Botswana Congress Party’s Sebusiso Ngwenya and Kefilwe Koboto who was an independent candidate. Kedikilwe contested with a view to ‘hold’ the constituency for Tshekedi whom he believed would one day return to take up the constituency. “When I informed Tshekedi I was going to hold the constituency for him, he doubted me as I never declared that interest since I had other interests in the business sphere.” At least from 2023 ahead of the 2024 General Election, for about 14 months, Kedikilwe was at the helm of a constituency that rallies behind the former president, Ian Khama who was previously the area MP. This is how the reluctant politician’s interest was ignited into the realm of politics at the level of Parliament. “Once you have entered into politics, you come to appreciate the realm and, in a quest, to solve the peoples’ challenges, you don’t look back, you just soldier on and work towards meeting their expectations,” adds Kedikilwe. A good lesson that however, introduced him to politics was many years ago when he studied in Tanzania where amongst others the core subjects he read included Political Education and Economics.
He was at the time in the cooperative movement. It was these studies that aided him to appreciate the trials people face. “I got so hooked and searched for solutions to people’s problems. It’s my dream to provide solutions to the people’s troubles,” he says. His past experience has taught him that there is potential in empowering communities at his poverty-stricken Malatswai, Mmashoro and Dimajwe villages amongst others by producing food for the community at the respective villages. The constituency has ploughing spaces and livestock that help the constituency to cater for the people. Kedikilwe was elected as an MP after serving two terms in the vast Central District Council (CDC), one of the biggest councils in the country. To him, Parliament looked smaller in terms of numbers as the CDC sitting used to have over 100 councillors. He considers the CDC to be higher in terms of stature. He was the chairperson of the finance committee. The legislator considers Serowe West as a constituency supported by the Bangwato tribe.
The tribe rallied behind its founder and ex-patron, Ian Khama and of course his party. The strength of the party still lies in the fact that the loyalty of the tribe makes the party a strong one in Serowe West (and other surrounding constituencies), the heartland of Bangwato. To the tribe, the political fallout between the BDP leadership under former president Mokgweetsi Masisi and Khama was a clear case of attack on the tribe’s Kgosikgolo. Because voters had been backing BPF candidates, Kedikilwe also benefitted from the loyalty. Serowe West is primarily rural with 29,739 people and candidates who show up in the area, promising boreholes, clinics, roads and schools tend to do well there. Kedikilwe’s appealing messages have matched that. “It’s obvious that the tribe was going to stand by the side of their Kgosikgolo. I am one of the pioneers of the BPF including amongst others Ronald Mojakgomo, Prince Moitoi, and Iphemele Kgokgothwane,” he reveals. Kedikilwe stresses that the BPF is a strong party in the area emphasising that the greatest enemy can only be from within it. He is worried that the party is currently rocked by internal wrangling. However, Kedikilwe remains hopeful that the BPF’s impending congress will make proper decisions going forward.
Equally, he gathers solace from the reality that constituents love their party and can stand with it despite the challenges they are facing. In his youthful years, Kedikilwe had wanted to be a chartered accountant but could not fulfill his dream because of other interests in life. “I loved accounting a lot as it speaks to the health of a business.” Through the cooperatives, he advanced his education in the United Kingdom where he read for Finance and Accounting as a way of empowering himself. Whilst visiting various places, his appetite to set up his businesses grew. Besides having been a secretary for Palamaokuwe, he has not served in any other party committee in the BPF. When he is at the constituency, when Parliament is on recess, Kedikilwe’s parliamentary office is open to the constituents fully. When Parliament business is on, his officers attend to the people’s issues without fail. There will always be issues that are referred to him when a need arises. The legislator explains that he has a strong bond with the people as he says the constituents are very guiding and they will even tell him what to do, including that he may have missed. “The people will always show you they are with you. As such, one is forced to listen to the constituents and act accordingly.
You really need to know how they are even thinking about you.” In the 2024 General Election, the BPF won all the seven council seats in the constituency. In addition, the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) nominated one councillor in the constituency. “Yes, I work very well with the UDC councillor and we inform her about all constituency activities as part of us,” he explains. Generally, Kedikilwe’s debates in Parliament focus more on service delivery, government systems and rural issues in Serowe West. Previously, when debating on health, education and basic services, the legislator said, “it’s disappointing that over 60 years into our democracy, Batswana are still decrying the shortage of medicines at clinics and lack of stationery at schools with pupils in some constituencies expected to bring their own furniture to school.” Kedikilwe’s issue-based approached is being recognised. “His contributions tend to be practical and constituency-driven rather than broad political attacks.
He brings up specific problems people in Serowe West and similar rural areas face and ties them to national policy,” observed a political commentator who preferred anonymity. Some consider the legislator as a service-delivery, constituency first type of a politician. He doesn’t make a lot of national headline grabbing speeches as most of his Parliament contributions have been about everyday problems. The feeling is that Kedikilwe is aligned with the party, but focused locally rather than being a big national spokesperson. “He is the type who wins by showing up at kgotla meetings, raising clinic and school issues in Parliament and pushing for projects in Malatswai, Mmashoro, Dimajwe and Serowe, rather than by national political drama,” he is further described by one of his constituents. Interestingly, his seat has transitioned through interesting stages: from Ian to Tshekedi and then to him. It can be summed up as presidential, firebrand/confrontational MP to the constituency worker/service MP or presidential seat, protest seat to delivery seat, if you like. Kedikilwe wasn’t inspired by anyone to join politics, but was simply encouraged by the people and he obliged.
Notwithstanding that, he tries hard to follow the footsteps of the former president Khama, who was formerly Serowe West MP. He is convinced Khama senior served the people with aplomb and he also lists Ian as one of his role models. From his family line he traces the late politicians, Prince Kgwaneng and Kgotla Autlwetse as some of the people who were in active politics at the BDP. He bemoans the situation of poverty enveloping the Serowe West constituency. Villages making up the constituency outside Serowe are poverty stricken without proper road infrastructure. In one instance, a spaza shop is the main shop that supports the whole settlement. Poor road infrastructure is a commonplace. Shortage of medication is a problem bedevilling the settlements of Dimajwe, Malatswai and Mmashoro as is abject poverty.
Kedikilwe is a married man with four children. His children have no interest in politics although they fully support him. Although he has never juggled the pigskin, the legislator is a fanatic of football. During his school days, he was a sprinter par excellence doing 100 metres.