BDP selects Mosadi for Ramotswa ballot
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday May 25, 2016 17:09
The council seat fell vacant after the death of Molemi Rakgomo of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), who committed suicide late in April.
Mosadi was chosen by the Southern region after democrats decided against holding primary elections and instead, opting for a consensus candidate. Under the consensus arrangement, the members had to agree on a name and send it to the BDP central committee for approval. Mmegi has learnt that the BDP recently sent a campaign team to do ground work in the area and analyse the chances of winning.
Mosadi will face off against youthful Seitiso Ditlhong who will represent the BCP and its by-election partner, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). The BCP and the UDC recently signed a memorandum of agreement for cooperation in by-elections.
A BDP insider said the party was strategising to ensure Mosadi wins the by-election.
“This time around our party wants to use a different approach to this by-election. Usually we do better when we don’t hold primaries. Again the residents of Kelemogile ward will be the ones who lead the campaigns, the reason being that the BCP is very strong in this ward and it has won it several times.
“We however have hope that we can do better than ever before,” the insider said.
The source said the party has started supporting members with resources and more campaign teams will soon be joining too.
Yesterday BDP secretary general, Botsalo Ntuane said a launch date was being decided upon. “The launch date will be determined by local structures and the campaign manager is Matshidiso Fologang,” he said.
The BCP candidate, Ditlhong, will be launched on June 18. Ditlhong’s campaign will be led by the BCP women’s and youth leagues.
Over the weekend, the BCP held a training workshop through the British Labour Party aimed at assessing the party’s current status and ways to campaign.
British Labour Party representatives took time to visit Kelemogile ward and gave their advice to the BCP members on how they to can retain the ward.