Rammidi launch draws hordes of BCP supporters
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Tuesday September 23, 2014 17:06
Kanye North was until 2009 a Botswana National Front stronghold, when Rammidi won the constituency under the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ticket with a huge margin, during the 2009 general elections. He left the BDP in protest in 2011.
Considering the BCP has not always been popular in Ngwaketse area, Rammidi appears to have endeared himself to the electorate judging by the multitudes that thronged his rally. The attendees cut across age, with elderly women wearing white shawls and carrying Bibles. The number of people at the Seepapitso grounds, where the rally was held, far outnumbered the hundreds who arrived with the motorcade and presidential tour bus that the BCP unveiled over the weekend.
When addressing the crowd, BCP president Dumelang Saleshando raved about what a great leader Rammidi was. “Its only Rammidi who stood his ground when he differed with the BDP president about labour issues and resigned from his ministry. Some members of parliament betrayed Batswana by going back to BDP. Rammidi’s voice is always heard when he talks about lack of unemployment and other problems that face this constituency. No one can doubt his capability as a member of Parliament,” he said.
Rammidi asked Kanye North residents to give him another chance to represent them.
“Ke batla go ya go tsweledisa ha ke emeng teng ko palamenteng. Ke nna ke tlhaloganyang mathata a kgaolo ya lona. Bonkgonne ba bangwe ga ke utwe gore bareng jaanong nna le nkutule, (I want to continue what I started in parliament. I understand my constituents’ problems better),” he said. He also said Batswana’s misery would worsen if the BDP were voted back into power. Rammidi will battle it out with BDP candidate Patrick Ralotsia and Kwenantle Gaseitsewe of the Umbrella for Democratic Change. Kanye has seven wards. It has a population of 34,181 but only 18,858 individuals have registered to vote.