Kgalajwe leaves Mayoral race, suspects betrayal by comrades
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday December 2, 2014 15:00
Instead, he told Mmegi that only opposition legislators were fully behind him because they had realised he was the right person to continue projects he had left unfinished because of the recent general elections.
Initially, Kgalajwe had shown interest in contesting for the second time as the mayor for Francistown and as one of the front-runners, it came as a shock when he suddenly declared he was not in the race anymore.
Those who have confirmed that they are in the race for the mayoral seat are youthful councillor of Itekeng ward Lesego Kwambala, Cornelius Gopolang of Kanana ward and nominated councillors Zazambi Tuelo and former District Commissioner Silvia Muzila.
In an interview with Mmegi Monday morning, Kgalajwe confirmed his decision to step aside and that he decided to pull out because councillors who had promised to support him pulled out at the last minute.
“I realised that councillors whom I had trusted would vote for me had instead turned against me and were now behind some of my competitors. I decided to just pull out and leave them to battle it out for this position, “ he said.
Kgalajwe said that after being elected as a nominated councillor, he decided to contest for the mayoral seat in order to continue projects that he left unfinished before this year’s general elections. He said that another thing that influenced his decision was that a lot of people have shown interest in the position and this is going to divide numbers between democrats.
“Too many of us want this position and this is going to affect the votes.
This is why I decided to just pull out and rally behind the person that the party will later choose during the party caucus in the evening at Tati River Lodge, “ he said.
Kgalajwe said he wanted to continue with the city’s vision and other projects that he had implemented during his term as a mayor, but some of the councilors did not share that view.
He said that he has set up projects for the city’s further development and expressed hope that the person who will be elected will continue to implement them.
“I am the Chairperson of the city’s vision 2022 and hope to implement them now as a councillor and not mayor,” said Kgalajwe. When asked why councillors decided to turn against him, Kgalajwe said he suspected that it could be rumours doing rounds in the city that he is positioning himself to take over as the Francistown East member of parliament in 2019.
If the rumours are true, Kgalajwe will battle it out with newly elected MP for the area Buti Billy.
“I cannot comment much on these rumours because I am not sure if these rumours are true or false. I heard that these rumours are fuelling speculation that if I am elected as mayor, I may be in a good position to topple Billy in 2019 hence some councillors in Francistown East have decided not to support me,” said Kgalajwe.
Questioned if he has any intentions to compete against Billy in 2019, Kgalajwe could not say if he will campaign or not because he was recently nominated as a councillor.
The MP for Francistown East Buti Billy rubbished rumours that he is behind the plan for Kgalajwe’s pull out from the mayoral race.
Billy said that he also heard the rumours, but they are not true because he is the one who chose Kgalajwe to be a nominated councillor.
“I do not believe those rumours because they have the potential to spoil the good relationship that I have with Kgalajwe,” said Billy.