BCP men in the dark about meeting leadership
Chakalisa Dube | Friday March 28, 2014 15:53
The duo said instead, they only heard through the grapevine that Maswibilili was going to meet with them.
Maswibilili has been delegated by the party to address the two men. He is to explain to them why the party decided to call off the parliamentary primaries in Francistown West in which they were to take part in.
Both Monyatsi and Tlou have been prevented from contesting the Francistown West constituency primaries to book their candidacy at the general elections.
Instead the party has handpicked current area Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Habaudi Hobona to contest in the general elections, mainly citing that her busy schedule would make it hard for her to prepare for the primaries.
Maswibilili is also expected to meet the Francistown region and Francistown West constituency leadership tomorrow.
Maswibilili was expected to have met the duo last Saturday but the meeting was called off after he failed to turn-up.
Despite the Francistown Regional leader Samuel Moribame confirming the tomorrow meeting, by noon yesterday both Monyatsi and Baatlhodi said that they were still not aware of the meeting.
“All I know is that we were supposed to have a meeting last weekend, which was called off at the 11th hour because Maswibilili did not turn up for personal reasons.
“We were told that the meeting had been postponed until further notice. If the party takes me seriously I could have seen the invitation early this week (to prepare myself) if at all there is a meeting on Saturday rather than learning about it in newspapers,” a furious Monyatsi told Mmegi yesterday.
For his part Tlou said he only learnt through the media on Wednesday that Maswibilili will meet with them tomorrow.
“If indeed the meeting will be on Saturday it will be unfair on my part.
“My view is that if there is a meeting I should have been told in time to prepare myself because we are the most affected parties.
“I do not believe that the party treats this matter (of calling off primaries) seriously because they do not communicate anything with us.
“Instead they go to the newspapers like they did on Wednesday,” he said.
Maswibilili first confirmed tomorrow’s meeting in a local newspaper on Wednesday.
The two men were non-committal when asked if they would attend the meeting when given invitations at the 11th hour, choosing to say they will make a decision when officially invited.
Moribame on the other hand said that he was not certain if Monyatsi and Tlou have been informed about the meeting.
“You will have to check with the Francistown West constituency first. They should have sent an invitation to them.
“All I know is that in the first meeting, which was postponed, the secretary general (Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang) informed them via phone,” Moribame said.
When contacted yesterday, Maswibilili also confirmed the Saturday meeting, but referred further inquiries to the Francistown West constituency leadership.
Francistown West constituency chairperson, Reuben Kethoilwe’s mobile phone was unavailable when Mmegi attempted to make contact with him.
Interestingly the constituency secretary, Smarts Shabani, unlike Moribame, told Mmegi that he was not aware of the meeting.
“I have just received a call from one of our members that the constituency has a meeting later today (Thursday). Maybe that is when something about the weekend meeting will be communicated,” said Shabani.
He said: “If at all there is a meeting with Maswibilili on Saturday it will not only inconvenience us, it will also inconvenience affected parties in the constituency because as individuals we have plans.”
“To call our plans off at the 11th hour to attend the meeting will be in an inconvenience to us. It is best to communicate early when there is a meeting for both parties affected to prepare,” Shabani said.