Moseki retires from active politics
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Friday November 1, 2019 12:32
Moseki, who lost to Buti Billy of the BDP in the Francistown East constituency told Mmegi that he took the decision to retire from active politics in order to concentrate on his law firm.
Even though Moseki has thrown in the towel, he still has high hopes that his comrades who will take over the baton from him would snatch the constituency from the BDP in 2024.
He said that he will remain a member of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) under UDC and would avail himself to the party when needed at all times.
He added: “I have just reached the end of my road as an active politician. But I will be a member of the BCP under UDC until my last days on earth”. Speaking about how the UDC performed during the just ended general elections, Moseki accepted that the UDC has lost although it had the best manifesto.
Moseki said that although he is quitting active politics, he leaves a happy man because he has contributed much in the nurturing of democracy in Botswana.
When giving his political background, Moseki said that he joined the BCP at its formation in 1998 following its split from the Botswana National Front (BNF) during his civil service days.
He further said that he later took a decision to be active in politics after the 1999 general election after the BCP garnered only one parliamentary candidate.
He said that in 2003 he left his prestigious post of Assistant Registrar & Master - an E1 scale job so as to prepare for contesting in the 2004 general elections.
Moseki went on: “To me the biggest loss the BCP suffered in 1999 needed more manpower to bring war to the BDP. In essence I abandoned everything for a cause I believed would help bring changes to my society rather than to myself”.
He explained that things were pretty tough for him because when he started to campaign in 2003, he was also studying for a Master of Laws at the University of Cape Town in South Africa on a full time basis.
Secondly, he pointed out that the Francistown East constituency was abandoned since 1999 and had few members. Moseki indicated that after the 2004 general elections, he garnered 1, 419 votes while Phandu Skelemani of the BDP got 3, 255 votes.
He said: “A coward would have either joined the enemy or disappeared into thin air like most politicians do. The BDP had vanquished us and proved to be untouchable. But in the midst of this, my spirit was never dampened by the BDP haemorrhage”.
He further said that he was then buoyed by that slight increase from 1,415 to 1, 419 from the previous elections and was now looking forward to unseat the BDP from the constituency.
Moseki said that his campaign team put more effort and worked so hard towards the 2009 general elections and almost snatched the constituency from the BDP after obtaining 3, 130 against Skelemani’s 3, 598.
“The BDP’s popularity was beginning to wane. We pledged to work hard for the 2014 elections. However a new kid on the block, Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), spoiled our chances and gave the BDP a narrow but safe passage to Parliament.”
When speaking about some of the challenges he encountered during his political journey, the human rights lawyer and former union activist stated that financing political campaigns from one’s pocket is a very big challenge.
“One’s resources are channeled into campaign merchandise, feeding campaign teams, sponsoring members to attend party conferences and meeting persistent requests from potential voters who think that every politician standing for elections is rich.”
Moseki said that as practicing attorney, he juggled between campaigns and court appearances with minimum disruptions. He prides himself in breaking the myth that Francistown East is a BDP bastion because although they did not manage to dislodge it, numbers show that it can be defeated in the area.
Moseki explained that their best chance of toppling the BDP in Francistown East came in 2009 when the BCP managed to win four council seats while the BDP won two but Skelemani still went parliament. However, in the just ended general elections, the performance of the BCP under the UDC took a nosedive when it garnered 2,632 votes while BDP convincingly won the constituency by 4,652 ballots.
The AP and BPF got 433 and 352 votes respectively.
Moseki thanked people who voted for the UDC and his campaign team for working with him to win the ward although their efforts were not successful.
He concluded by thanking God for giving him the opportunity to educate his children from his resources and serving the community in good faith.