De Graaf quits politics and lions
Tefo Pheage | Wednesday May 25, 2016 18:00
Yesterday, De Graaf also told Mmegi that he had dumped the controversial but lucrative business of breeding lions. The former minister said he had requested the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism to rehabilitate the lions back into the wild and will no longer be involved in game farming.
Last April, De Graaf asked President Ian Khama to relieve him of his ministerial duties, citing ill health. De Graaf, however, held onto his constituency where in 2013, he was caught up in a regional storm after revelations that he ran a farm breeding lions for slaughter by hunters.
De Graaf told Mmegi yesterday that he believes he has run his race and will not be competing for the constituency ahead of the 2019 general elections.
“I believe I have served my party and the electorate. I have fulfilled my promise and have to vacate the seat for someone else,” he said.
De Graaf, who remains highly popular in the area, said he believes the party will still have a good chance of retaining the constituency in the 2019 general elections.
“I have not yet informed my party or the electorate. I have only confided in a few friends,” he said, adding that despite the privacy around his decision, he was receiving countless requests from party members pleading with him to review his decision.
“I don’t think I will reconsider my decision to leave. In the meantime I will continue serving my electorate in Parliament,” he said.
De Graaf has informed the BDP in the region of his decision and promised that he will be part of the campaign team for whoever succeeds him.
While a clear successor is still unknown, sources say Greg Losibe, who was De Graaf’s runner up in the party’s primary elections, is eager to step into the seat.
Speculation that De Graaf would quit active politics was heightened last year after the Office of the President announced that Khama had agreed to relieve him of his ministerial duties to allow him to focus on his health.
Sources within the party say De Graaf could have long left politics but had been asked by the party leadership to finish his five-year term to avoid an uncertain by-election result.
De Graaf won the 2014 vote with a 966 lead over the Umbrella for Democratic Change.
The former minister says he will now focus on his businesses and family. He is the owner of Tautona Lodge, a construction company and is also into game farming, although he insists he is out of the lion breeding business.
The 60-year-old rose to national attention in 1999 after being nominated as a councillor.