BMD eyes Nkange

GALE NGAKANE
Correspondent | Wednesday June 9, 2010 00:00

Ntangisi Bakwali, a BMD official currently based in Francistown says he has been holding campaigns in the constituency and has been warmly welcomed by the residents of the villages that make up Nkange.

The constituency has 10 wards, six of which are held by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), while four are under the Botswana congress Party (BCP).

Bakwali, who claims he, together with some BDP councillors, was instrumental in the campaign that catapulted Edwin Batshu to be the area's Member of Parliament (MP), claims most, if not all the councillors would be decamping to the BMD. In Francistown, the mayor, Shadrack Nyeku defected to the BMD with a majority of his councillors. The MP for Francistown South, Wynter Mmolotsi has also gone to the BMD after he was expelled from the BDP.

However, the MP quashed Bakwali's assertions that BMD was poised to make inroads into Batshu's lair as a figment of a fertile imagination.

'That area is a BDP stronghold. It is not a playground for youngsters like BMD and even in 2014, we are going to retake it. They are not going to make us tremble in our boots,' said the former Commissioner of Police, who was attending a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting when Mmegi called.

Bakwali said most of the seven councillors in the area, have defected to the BMD. But that could not be ascertained as Mmegi could not get hold of any of them.

In a survey carried out last year, residents cited lack of development as the reason why they regard voting as a waste of time.

Residents complained that once voted into office MP's forget all about what they promised their electorate as they start concentrating on getting rich and putting their children in expensive schools and opening shops or bars.'It's like a ritual that an MP or a councillor should have a bar or a shop in this area,' said one frustrated resident.

Nkange Constituency consists of several villages and residents say  politicians are compromising their villages' future by not living up to their promises.

Villages like Nkange, Maitengwe, Senete, Changate, Tutume, Nswazwi, Goshwe, Dagwi, and Matobo are all in Nkange constituency.

The 10 wards are Nswazwi, Matobo, Goshwe, Tutume East, Tutume West, Tutume Central, Nkange South, Nkange North, Maitengwe South and Maitengwe North.

At the 2009 General elections, Batshu garnered 6,094 votes to claim the seat after beating Batisani Maswibilili of BCP who mustered 4,618 votes