Kalakamati campaigns heighten
Chakalisa Dube | Thursday October 20, 2016 16:02
The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) launched its candidate, veteran politician Madumela Matebu, last weekend in what was an above average activity. The by-election will be held on October 29 and seeks to replace the late councillor Israel Samu who died some months ago.
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has fielded Zibani Mbalambi.
After weeks of doing house-to-house campaigns, both parties started midweek rallies in a bid to heighten their support base.
On Saturday the BDP chairperson Mokgweetsi Masisi will lead a host of speakers among them Tebelelo Seretse and the Okavango legislator Bagalatia Aarone to Kalakamati to launch Mbalambi.
Tati West Member of Parliament (MP), Biggie Butale and Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development Nonofo Molefhi, who is said to be positioning himself to challenge Masisi for the country’s Presidency, will also be among the key speakers.
“We have also lined up a few speakers who are from the ward to make the event more appealing to the locals,” BDP campaign spokesperson Bose Sethupa told Mmegi.
Sethupa said that they wanted to cover the whole ward before they could embark on the launch.
Masisi will look to counter opposition leaders who have been frequenting the Kalakamati ward in recent days in a bid to drum up support for their troops.
UDC president Duma Boko and the chairman Motlatsi Molapise have been leading campaigns in Kalakamati in recent days. Chief in Masisi’s agenda may be to defend the government’s decision to liquidate BCL.
Over the weekend in Mbalambi, opposition parties chided government for closing BCL “without consulting” stakeholders.
The audience even appeared to be strongly backing opposition parties.
“We hope that President Ian Khama will visit the constituency when he returns from abroad (sometimes after October 22) to boost our campaign. We are almost ready for the by-election,” Sethupa added.
Khama was initially billed to engage in his controversial but popular walkabouts in the ward last weekend.
However, his visit could not see the light of the day owing to other commitments.
Prior to the UDC launch, the opposition bloc petitioned the Masunga District Commissioner on a litany of issues, which they feel the BDP regime is failing to address effectively.
Among the issues were unemployment and the introduction of electronic voting machine. The move was also seen as a way of heightening the mood ahead of the launch. Now the BDP has stated that it will hold a motorcade from Kalakamati to Mbalambi in a bid to hype the launch.
Villages of Sekakangwe, Kalakamati and Mbalambi make up the Kalakamati ward.
Both parties have indicated that they will host star rallies on the eve of the elections.
At the 2014 elections the BDP garnered 556 votes against the UDC’s 434 votes while the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), which has now thrown its weight behind UDC, got 219 votes.