Motorcade to herald Hubona launch

EDWARD BULE
Correspondent | Friday August 6, 2010 00:00

The by-election takes place on September 4 to fill the seat that fell vacant after the death of former Finance Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) Baledzi Gaolathe early this year.

According to BCP campaign manager Vain Mamela, the launch will be preceded by a motorcade from Borolong through Natale, snaking its way through the rest of the wards and back to Borolong where BCP president Dumelang Saleshando will launch Dr Hubona.

Following the resolutions by the various party congresses to support the BCP in the by-election, most opposition parties will not only be represented at this even but will also play an active part in the launch. Botswana National Front (BNF) The secretary general Akanyang Magama has confirmed that the BNF central committee, led by party president Duma Boko, will grace the occasion.

The BNF, together with the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) whose leadership will also attend, will be given slots to address the rally.

In an interview, BMD spokesperson Kabo Morwaeng revealed that his party has issued an appeal to the Francistown and neighbouring villages to give their full support to the BCP by attending the launch.

The BNF and BMD have further disclosed that they will make teams available to complement the BCP mobilisation effort in the constituency even after the launch.

While the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) will not send a high-powered delegation to the launch because the event coincides with the party central committee meeting, the BPP Secretary General, Shathiso Tambula said that the BPP would campaign alongside the BCP even after the launch. Meanwhile, MELS has broken ranks with the other opposition parties and has picked Mbayani Phalalo to contest the constituency.

Gaolatlhe won the constituency by garnering 5,811 while Hubona got 3, 067 in the October 16, 2009 general election. Considering the fact that the constituency has always been a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) stronghold, the margin of 2, 744 should present a major challenge to the BCP.

In a recent interview however, Dr Hubona said that she was confident of victory because, in her view, the people of Tonota North, whom she says have been neglected for too long, need change. The BCP candidate argued that only the opposition, which she says is people-centred, could meaningfully address the needs of the electorate in the area.

The truth though is that the situation has changed since 2009. While in the 2004 and 2009 elections the BCP was contesting against a government minister whose stature obviously put him in good stead, Fidelis Molao, the BDP candidate, is not a minister. The controversy surrounding the BDP primary elections does not assist the BDP prospects of retaining the constituency either.

The suggestions by Lamodimo Dikomang that Molao's win could have been engineered lends credence to earlier allegations by the losers that the primary elections were rigged in favour of the winner. The fact therefore that the losers and their supporters are disgruntled could derail the BDP efforts in the constituency.

It is significant also to note that in 2004, Gaolathe had won by a bigger margin than the 2009 one of 2,744. Besides, in 2004, the BCP had lost all the wards. Out of a total of seven wards, the BDP won five of them while the BCP won three in 2009. Of the five wards currently in BDP hands, two of them were by a margin of less than 35 votes.

During the 2009 elections, although there were factions in the BDP, there was no split. Now there is BMD fighting on the side of the BCP. The active support of the BNF and BPP could boost the chances of the BCP on August 4th. One of Gaolatlhe's attractions was that he was not associated with factionalism. It is not clear as yet however whether BMD is a factor in Tonota North.

What is clear is that they will want to prove that they are indeed a force to reckon with. Equally clear is the fact that a win for the BCP might prove costly for the beleaguered BDP as that could mean that BMD is indeed a factor in Botswana politics.