Battle for Goodhope - Mabule begins
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Tuesday June 2, 2015 18:00
The battle for the area has become more interesting, as previous incumbent, Kitso Mokaila confirmed yesterday evening that he would not run again.
“I can confirm that after very careful consideration I have decided not to run and give 100% focus to the challenges of water and electricity in the country,” he told Mmegi.
Yesterday, UDC Youth Brigade leader, who is also the president of the youth league of the member party, the Botswana Movement for Democracy, Phenyo Segokgo said the organisation plans holding primary elections soon to select a candidate who will run with the hopes of retaining the constituency.
He said the UDC would hit the campaign trail hard by first apologising to Batswana for the spate of resignations that have recently hit the party.
Besides Mathokgwane, the UDC also lost a councillor in Mochudi West, who was forced to choose between politics and his employment at the University of Botswana.
“We are really sorry about recent resignations that led to two by-elections,” he said.
“It’s like we are taking Batswana for granted. I believe that this is a wake up call for us as the UDC, because we never thought it would happen.”
“This calls for the party to introspect and engage its councillors and MPs on certain challenges they may be facing.” Segokgo said the opposition bloc would campaign aggressively to retain the constituency. “Our youth league will camp in this area to assist our members in the campaigns,” he said.
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) communication chairperson, Shaw Kgathi said the branch committee in the Goodhope-Mabule area would meet and decide how to select a candidate for the upcoming by-election.
“The branch committee will have a meeting with members who will decide whether to go for party primary elections or not. They will then indicate their decision to the party central committee for deliberation on the matter,” Kgathi said.
He said the party had not yet started its campaigns for the seat because the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had not yet declared a vacancy. The BCP youth league president MacDonald Rakgare had begun engaging members in the region on fielding a candidate.
“After the news broke last week that there is a vacancy, we started engaging the BCP youth and our members in the constituency specifically on what the party should do.
“The consensus is that the BCP should field a candidate. “Residents should punish the UDC for abandoning the constituency.
The BDP should also be punished for failing to address the problems of Batswana,” Rakgare said.
Goodhope-Mabule is historically a BDP stronghold, but the UDC was able to make ground and snatch it last year, as villagers complained that their constituency was underdeveloped.
Mathokgwane, who for 15 years had fought for the seat under the Botswana National Front, finally won the right to represent the constitution in Parliament under a united coalition of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) last October. Seven months later, he resigned his Parliament seat to take up a senior management post at SPEDU in Selibe-Phikwe.
Villagers told Mmegi news crew that toured the area ahead of the October 2014 poll that they felt the then incumbent, Kitso Mokaila, was focusing on his ministerial duties and neglecting the area.