Molosiwa to protest BCP Palapye primaries
Gasebalwe Seretse | Tuesday November 26, 2013 16:17
Molosiwa lost the elections to James Olesitse last weekend with a margin of 112. He already proclaimed his unhappiness with the outcome based on how his camp had campaigned ahead of the election.
According to a source close to Molosiwa's camp, Olesitse's campaign ahead of the election breached the party regulations.
'In contravention of clause 12:1 of the BCP primary elections regulations, on November 13 and 14, Olesitse went around all the wards of Palapye canvassing for support through loudspeakers mounted on a vehicle and needless to say, this gave him unfair advantage over Molosiwa who abided by the party regulations,' the source revealed.
Molosiwa's camp fears that the public campaign might have swayed the voters in favour of Olesitse since of the two candidates, he was the only one who openly campaigned.
According to the source, Molosiwa tried to register a complaint soon after the incident but was not able to reach Makhura.
He however, managed to talk to the party's secretary general, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang who also was not able to address the matter on time due to other commitments.
For his part, Olesitse who did not deny the charge of openly campaigning said that the party allowed him and Molosiwa to do so soon after the two were nominated.
'I was never warned by anyone from the BCP that I had done anything contravening the party's primary election regulations.
'I am surprised to hear through the media that I did something wrong yet nobody has approached me about that matter.
'I am only answerable to the BCP not the media,' said Olesitse, who also indicated that he was not willing to talk further on the matter.
Last weekend's election, Olesitse garnered 499 votes trouncing Molosiwa who got 387 votes.
The Palapye results have been amongst the most anticipated in BCP's primaries.
Unlike other constituencies in the northern part of Botswana, the elections were postponed and held a weekend later because the constituency failed to return the voters' roll on time.
The rivalry between Olesitse and Molosiwa dates back to 1999 with the former, who is a veteran politician always getting an upper hand.
Mmegi was unable to reach Molosiwa for comment despite several attempts.