Trying times for Moswaane, UDC
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday December 11, 2020 15:39
FRANCISTOWN: The weekend launch of Moswaane can only be described as a shadow of itself especially after he (Moswaane) had promised that his former party was in trouble as he was destined to collapse its operations in the Francistown West constituency.
Since the late Tshelang Masisi ousted veteran politician, Vain Mamela from the Francistown West constituency at the 2009 polls, the constituency has been dominated by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). Mamela stood on the Botswana National Front (BNF) ticket at the 2004 general election, becoming the first MP for the area that was freshly christened following delimitation exercise that year. He then beat former health minister, Dr. John Seakgosing who had represented the BDP.
In 2008, following a massive split of the BNF at Palapye that birthed the current Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Mamela and other MPs, eleven in number, formed the BCP.
It was only after the BDP’s own goal at the 2013 by-election precipitated by the passing on of the seemingly hard-to-beat Masisi, elder brother to President Mokgweetsi Masisi that the opposition BCP took advantage of the ruling party’s internal wrangles that it won the seat ahead of the 2014 general election. Dr. Habaudi Hubona was given the nod as the area legislator, but failed re-election at the 2014 polls.
The BDP’s preferred candidate for the 2013 by-election, Moswaane could not run for the by-election after an aggrieved party member, Whyte Marobela had taken the matter to Court and it was ultimately ruled in his favour and thereby the Court technically barred Moswaane from contesting.
Back to Moswaane’s weekend launch. Perhaps, the maverick politician and his followers can gather solace from the fact that in some instances, they literally uprooted BDP structures at both ward and branch levels to the UDC.
A closer scrutiny of the numbers that Moswaane amassed last Sunday gives him a doubtful start in the promised journey of taking everything away with him. The weekend political operation was dubbed, “Re tsamaya le Moswaane” or roughly translated to “we follow Moswaane”.
But the harvest wasn’t convincing enough at all. Moswaane, known for his robustness in political campaigns, will have to dig deeper from his pockets to shine again. Besides the 2013 incident, he is yet to lose a contest especially in elections. Previously, his former party once ordered a re-run of the party primaries which he believed was an opportunity for some people to get rid of him, “as over 700 of my supporters were removed from the party voters roll’, he said then
Moswaane would later stand as an independent council candidate and beat the party’s favourite, Baboni Mosalagae. Mosalagae would benefit as she was returned as a nominated councillor.
Now, there is massive evidence suggesting that Moswaane’s defection to the UDC will provide a stern political test to his prowess as a political maestro. His artistry in the political game has been put to real test especially that he claims to be still in control of the constituency that the BDP has become so embedded that records show that undoing the party will take a lot of hard work. He is also aware that politics is a numbers game.
Considering that in the 2019 general election, about 9,295 people turned up to vote in the parliamentary elections in the Francistown West constituency, for Moswaane now to be proud of by far, only amassing 1,002 people that he claimed followed him to the UDC, he still has a lot to do.
Moswaane representing the BDP in the last general election garnered 4,928 votes representing more than half of the total votes cast, followed by UDC’s Mbaakanyi Lenyatso who breathed fire on Moswaane’s neck with 3,148 votes, Alliance for Progressives (AP) represented by Dira Moalosi got 763 votes, Mothusi Chimbise of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) got 371 votes, whilst independent candidate Goitsemodimo Setume got only 40 votes. There were 45 spoiled votes.
A year later, just when Moswaane was confident that he was going to give his former party a torrid time as he has been in control of the constituency, his plan seems to be going south.
The number of people who have committed to troop out of the BDP is so insignificant that Moswaane and the UDC could be worried about the future. The seemingly unfulfilled promises of the BDP diehards have amounted to a snub of some sort.
At the weekend press conference marking the official launch of Moswaane, the maverick politician was quick to state that, the second and more defections expected before the end of December will see more people trooping out of the BDP to the UDC.
“More people including the core of the current BDP structures are going to cross to the UDC enmasse,” promised Moswaane seemingly as a desperate act to keep him and his people in the game.
He even emphasised: “We have taken all the BDP structures from ward, branch and strategically the party branch and ward leadership is there, but by December ending, it will be no more. They will be coming with me.”
Moswaane will have to move faster and put the numbers that he claims are on his side in the bag, otherwise, the anticipated numbers will remain wishful thinking.
At the press conference, he had in his possession letters of those who have resigned from the BDP and followed him.
Moving the goal posts to a future date has further raised doubts in the minds of Moswaane’s critics who have always doubted the impending troubled meted upon the BDP structures in the Francistown West constituency.
UDC president and also Botswana National Front (BNF) president Advocate Duma Boko was elated that Moswaane had lived up to his expectations of hitting the BDP where it hurts the most.
He was positive that Moswaane and hordes of former BDP diehards that the UDC harvested over the weekend were destined to fulfill the desire of the opposition ousting the BDP from its long time stronghold.
Boko encouraged masses to join the UDC so that they can combat the societal ills bedeviling them as a collective, “because the current regime has been capitalising on people’s ignorance to do as they wish.”
He pronounced that Francistown West constituents were very lucky to have a legislator of Moswaane’s calibre who has been putting people ahead of anything.
Moswaane was also credited for putting his head on the block when he articulated societal ills like corruption, youth unemployment amongst others that ultimately saw him falling out with his former party leadership.
He (Moswaane) was encouraged to continue his anti-corruption crusade, which the ruling BDP is accused of condoning.
Baemedi Medupe, BDP Francistown region chairperson, has been steadfastly one of the Doubting Thomases refusing to concede that Moswaane and the UDC could ‘paralyse’ the BDP operations in the Francistown West constituency.
“Yes, in politics anything can happen. But, as the party leadership, we don’t have anything suggesting that our party structures and membership will diminish to any worrying levels. Nothing at all,” Medupe told Mmegi in a recent interview.
The weekend Moswaane launch has definitely vindicated Medupe who certainly believes in seeing.
Worried as he might have been, the weekend meeting, which failed to rise to the occasion, has given Medupe another opportunity to gather his troops and focus on the future of the constituency.