BDP councillor defects to BCP
Correspondent | Friday May 30, 2014 16:00
The civic leader defected to the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) saying he was not happy with the way his appeal was handled after he lost the BDP primaries.
Molwalefhe said his move is purely a vengeful act for what the BDP did to him. “It is about revenge and nothing else. It is not about crying for having lost. If I had lost fairly, I would have had no problem,” he said.
He added that his name and a group of his supporters were transferred to the new Letlhakane Central Ward deliberately when they were supposed to be in Letlhakane South.
“The verifications and corrections that we made three times were of no help as nothing changed,” he said. Molwalefe stated that he was allowed to use only his membership card and Omang to vote because his name was not on the voters’ roll. “When I asked for my supporters to be extended the same dispensation, those who were presiding refused,’ he said.
Molwalwalefe said he took his case all the way to the BDP central committee but failed because there was a systematic plan to kick him out by a faction of the party in Boteti East constituency. One BDP member in Letlhakane East, Ntebogang Kgosi has accused Molwalefe of not telling the truth.
“He lost because people did not want him. What I know is that it is only his son whoses name was not in the voters’ roll,” said Boteti East BDP branch chairperson Ceasor Ntshebe has said that it was unfortunate the party lost a veteran of Molwalefe’s calibre. He conceded that they did not give Molwalefe a fair hearing on his appeal.
“It is quite worrying because he might take with him some members of the BDP, which might put our chances of winning the ward on a shaky ground,” a worried Ntshebe said. He stated that they tried to intervene with the highest office on Molwalefe’s concerns but the BDP headquarters failed to act. “His name was not there in the voters’ roll and countless efforts made to correct the mistakes were not responded to, and hence his decision to leave the party,” Ntshebe said.
He added that they cautioned officials at Tsholetsa House about the dangers of what had happened in vain. “We had expected a re-run for Molwalefe and Mokubilo ward but instead, there was only a rerun for the constituency,” he said. BDP executive secretary, Mpho Balopi said they had not yet received Molwalefe’s resignation. He could not recall the councillor’s case as there were many appeals his office handled.