D-Day for Bokone ward by election
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday May 29, 2015 14:25
The three parties are Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Botswana Congress Party (BCP) Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), whose membership includes BNF, the Botswana Movement for Democracy and the Botswana Peoples Party.
The seat became vacant after UDC councillor Titus Kebuileng resigned following the demand by the employer, University of Botswana, that he makes a choice between his job or politics.
The BDP won it in 1999 for the first time but the BNF retained the ward in 2004. It has been under the BNF ever since.
But the BCP in 2014 increased its presence in the ward and came second after the UDC.
The BDP was relegated to third position. Bad roads, shortage of water and power has taken a centre stage in the campaign for the vacant seat. It remains to be seen just who will snatch the ward tomorrow.
The UDC had won the seat with 590 votes, followed by the BCP with 482 votes. The BDP trailed behind with 435. Although the UDC is working hard to retain the area, it is faced with internal challenges.
“Some BNF members are not happy with the fact that primary elections were not conducted and they felt the UDC leadership had imposed the candidate on them.
Some party leadership including UDC president Duma Boko has held several meetings with BNF members to try to solve the problem. They had been asked to vote for the candidate,” a source said.
He said UDC would only lose the seat if some members go against the party’s wish and vote for another party.
The UDC has fielded Boitumelo Sedumedi as their candidate. The BCP candidate Molefe Mosothwane is believed to be a capable candidate and there is a belief that he stands a good chance.
“The BCP has been working hard in the area and the fact that it did not have internal problems might work for them. It is also relying on some members of BNF who had promised to vote for them,” another source said.
Although the BDP also stands a good chance, observers feel Lesego Matlapeng might be disadvantaged by her advanced age.
“The BDP might also be disadvantaged by the fact that it did not put more resources and campaign aggressively for this by election,” another source said.