Goodhope/Mabule vote reaches fever pitch
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday August 13, 2015 18:00
GOODHOPE: Members of the three political parties contesting Saturday's by-election in the Goodhope/Mabule constituency turned the area upside down yesterday with frenetic last minute campaigns in a bid to win the hotly contested seat.
Yesterday, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) president, Duma Boko descended on the area in a helicopter hired to enable the opposition coalition to tour the expansive constituency, while elsewhere, Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) functionaries conducted ‘scorched-earth’ house to house campaigns.
Campaign teams from all parties were combing through the wards making last minute appeals to the electorate.
Residents of Mokgomane, Tswagare and Phitshane-Molopo welcomed Boko and the UDC’s candidate for the constituency, Kgosi Lotlamoreng II, yesterday afternoon. The opposition coalition intended to cover eight villages in the area yesterday, using the helicopter. “I am pleading with you to vote for UDC. This is the only party that has Batswana’s interest at heart. Kgosi Lotlamoreng II is the only candidate who knows what Barolong wants. This is a man who has served his tribe from his youth until now,” Boko said.
For his part, Lotlamoreng promised that he could advocate for people better from the National Assembly. “The lack of developments in the area such as water, electricity have affected people negatively,” he said.
The BDP, meanwhile, was gathered in Mabule for a mega-rally due to be graced by the country’s vice president, Mokgweetsi Masisi. Elsewhere in the constituency, the party continued intensive house-to-house campaigns, which democrats said were positive.
“House to house helps us to know if people support us or not,” said Fankie Motsaathebe, a member of the party’s campaign team.
Motsaathebe was among the party’s primary election hopefuls in a tight race eventually won by Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Eric Molale.
By yesterday evening, Molale was due to tackle the Botswana Congress Party (BCP)’s Comfort Maruping in a televised debate.
President Ian Khama is due in the constituency later today where he will hold a walkabout, before making the keynote speech at a last minute ‘star rally’ designed to propel Molale ahead of tomorrow’s vote.
Meanwhile, the BCP was also conducting house-to-house campaigns yesterday in Metlojane as well as Phitshane-Molopo. The party plans to begin its rallies today. The constituency fell vacant after the UDC’s James Mathokgwane resigned to join SPEDU in May this year.