Lone BMD cllr undecided on defecting

Lebogang Mosikare | Friday November 1, 2019 12:39

 This is despite the fact that his party was vanquished in the recent general elections.

Meshack Makgosa who stood for a council seat at Mathathane ward in the Bobonong constituency, won by the UDC was voted by 773 people, 556 more votes than his president, Sidney Pilane, who was voted by a paltry 207 voters for a parliamentary seat at Gaborone North.

Speaking to Mmegi in a telephone interview, Makgosa stated that although he harboured plans of defecting to another party, it was still a premature thing to do so.

“For now, I would still remain a loyal member of BMD for at least one year. I have to sit down and seriously introspect about the pros and cons of moving from party to another.

You should remember that I was once a member of the BDP. Yes, some suitors from the BDP and UDC have been courting me.

I have to first carefully evaluate what is happening inside the parties that are courting me for sometime before I make a decision to join one of them.

What would people who voted me say if I join another political party today and then it experiences some problems that may destabilise it tomorrow?” Makgosa asked.

Makgosa said he would have to consult with his family and people who voted him before taking the decision of whether to leave the BMD to join another party or not.

He added: “The BMD would be meeting on November 2 to evaluate how it performed during the recent elections. That meeting would also give me the opportunity to carefully reflect about my political future. Also, in Mathathane, people don’t necessarily vote for a party but vote for an individual.

I have to listen to what the residents of Mathathane would say regarding if I should join another party or not. But I would like parties under the banner of the UDC to disband and form one party before I decide to join it.

In my opinion, if they don’t disband and just remain as affiliates of the UDC, problems that dogged them in the past may disrupt them from working together peacefully.

This has the potential to affect how they would perform in future. Parties under the UDC have a great chance of unseating the BDP is they disband and remain as one potent force”.

However, reliable sources have told Mmegi that it is just a matter of time before Makgosa decamps from the BMD to join the UDC.

In the just ended general elections, the UDC did not field a candidate at Mathathane ward but instead settled for Makgosa to represent it.

This fuelled perceptions that Makgosa may be on his way to join the UDC sooner or later. The credible source revealed that they opted for Makgosa because he was already chosen to represent the UDC in the ward before the BMD was unceremoniously expelled from the UDC for bringing the name of the latter into disrepute.

Said the source: “We have already invited Makgosa to join the UDC. We are still in talks with him. I will give you details of how our talks are going as time goes on”.

Asked to comment whether the UDC is courting Makgosa or not, the incoming Member of Parliament (MP) for Bobirwa Taolo Lucas said: “We are very interested in the man. We have talked with him about the possibility of him joining the UDC. He was our candidate at Mathathane during the recent general elections. We have a very good working relationship with him”.

The chairperson of the BMD, Nehemiah Modubule, said that he was not sure if Makgosa was and is the only BMD candidate who managed to win a council seat in the country.

“I am not sure if any of our council candidates save for Makgosa managed to win a council seat in the country. I just heard that Makgosa is the only one who won a council seat in the country but I would be certain about that after we make an evaluation of how we performed in the recent elections on Saturday,” said Modubule.