Triumphant Molao Decries Loss Of 3 Wards
Pini Bothoko | Monday October 28, 2019 11:22
In the 2014 general election through his party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Molao managed to win all of the nine council wards in his constituency making it a stronghold for the ruling party.
However, in the recent general election, matters took a different twist as the BDP lost three council wards to the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
The three wards are Marobela, Marapong and Sebina wards.
UDC candidate, Tabona Masole toppled BDP contestant for Marobela ward, Magula Mothibi with 798 votes.
UDC’s Gofaone Mabutho also won Marapong ward with 676 votes against Gubungano Chilume of BDP with 525 votes. Mogomotsi Lemogang of UDC also snatched Sebina ward with 729 votes from Kemmonye Amon who only managed to collect 580 votes.
Following the results announcement early Friday morning, Molao told The Monitor he might have won elections but he was not happy after losing three wards.
“I have lost three council wards. I am sad about that, but I hope we will pick up the pieces and move forward. However, I am pleased as I have increased votes from 6,800 that I won back in 2014 to win the constituency with 7,181 votes (this time around), ” Molao said.
Asked why he lost the wards, the answer was lost to Molao.
“I seriously do not know why we lost those wards. I do not know if it is because of acute water shortage in the concerned areas or there was too much trafficking. From here we will join hands in establishing the cause and work hard in retaining those council seats,” he said.
Molao said in the past he also lost Mathangwane and Sebina wards, but managed to retain them hence he is confident that history will repeat itself after establishing why they lost the wards.
He, however, said he was happy with the increased voting numbers from 12,000 in 2014 to 17,000 people who had registered to vote this year.
Molao conceded that his constituency is currently faced with a number of challenges that electorates are not happy with that needed immediate attention.
He stated that the whole constituency is faced with acute water shortage, something that does not sit well with voters, who blame him for failing to deliver such services to them.
He said another concern is of the poor road conditions in a number of villages in his constituency.
“All along I have been transparent with challenges facing my constituency to electorates. I can’t lie to people saying ‘vote for me and tomorrow all of your problems will be solved’. However, the government is aware of those concerns and is working hard to amend them.”
Molao, however, said he was happy that the tender for Borolong/Chadibe water works construction has been awarded and shortage of water in those villages will soon be a thing of the past.
He went on to highlight that the long-awaited tender for Mandunyane-Mathangwane road has been released, saying that it will benefit a number of villages in his constituency.
He stated that the road would go a long way in improving people’s lives and give the constituency a facelift.