BDP re-runs on March 1

Gothataone Moeng | Monday February 17, 2014 07:59

 

Secretary-general of the party Mpho Balopi yesterday confirmed to Mmegi that elections will take place in all the wards and constituencies where re-runs have been ordered.

In Mmadinare, Assistant Minister of Health (MOH) Dr Gloria Somolekae will once again be pitted against former BDP Youth League president Kefentse Mzwinila, against whom she lost by only three votes in the primary elections last year.

Dr Somolekae protested the results on account that she was not accorded a re-count as evidence showed that numbers from the wards did not tally during elections day.

Reached for comment, Mzwinila said he could not comment on the re-run. However, he has previously said that he belives that he legitimately won. 

It is not the first time that he has run into problems during primary elections, before the 2009 election, Mzwinila wanted to challenge Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe in the BDP primaries but was suspended by the party for misconduct.

In Gaborone Central, four candidates contested the initial run, which councillor Kgomotso Mogami won with 283 votes.  Reverend Rupert Hambira appealed the results.

Hambira yesterday confirmed that on Wednesday evening he received a letter from the central committee about the elections re-run and that he is busy preparing for them.

Sitting MP Bernard Bolele was the winner of the first round of primaries in Mahalapye West.  Joseph Molefhe protested the results, and the appeals committee found irregularities which election officers neglected to attend to. In the primary elections ahead of the 2014 general elections, the BDP received a historical 108 protests to the election results.