Maripe not contesting Tati East anymore

EDWARD MPOLOKA | Friday June 28, 2013 00:00

 

Maripe has since changed his mind regarding his earlier plans to contest the Tati East constituency. Inside sources say his retreat is an expression of anger at the way he has been treated by the party leadership. 'After making it clear that he would not defend his position as president of the BPP at the congress due to fatigue and ill-health, Motlatsi Molapisi, on the advice of some in the party leadership, convinced Maripe to succeed Molapisi and Maripe agreed,' said a source.

Reportedly, some in the leadership of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) prevailed on Molapisi not to retire before the 2014 general elections for the sake of continuity as certain aspects of the UDC were yet to be finalised. The UDC is a coalition of the BPP, BMD and  the Botswana National Front (BNF), in which Molapisi had led the BPP team in the cooperation negotiations.

To Maripe's shock, according to reports, he was informed at the last minute about Molapisi's decision to defend his position. It is further said that, although annoyed by what he considered an act of betrayal by his colleagues, Maripe went ahead and contested but lost the presidency to the incumbent and vice presidency to Kumbulani William. William was the incumbent vice president.

According to sources who were at the congress, it became clear that the businessman-cum-politician was unhappy when he rejected nomination to the other executive positions in the central committee such as the secretary generalship. Reportedly, by the powers vested in him by the party constitution, Molapisi has co-opted him to the central committee, an offer he is said to have grudgingly accepted.

Sources attribute his loss in Kalakamati to the fact that some sections of the BPP did not trust him as they suspected that he was still a BMD member at heart.  'He spoke the BMD language, consulted a lot with them,' said a source without elaborating.When contacted for comment, BPP information and publicity secretary Thabani Peter confirmed Maripe's change of mind. 'It is true that he has officially indicated to us that, due to personal reasons, he will not be available to contest Tati East,' said Peter who claimed ignorance of Maripe's alleged disappointment with the party leadership for misleading him into believing that he no one would contest against him.Should Maripe decide not to stand, it will be back to the drawing board for the BPP. The party candidate for the 2009 general elections, Maria Kusasa dumped the party early this year in favor of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), accusing the party leadership of sidelining her in favour of Maripe.  Asked about his party's Plan B, Peter could only say, 'There is nothing certain for now but the party is working round the clock on the issue whose conclusion will be made public soon'.For his part, Maripe revealed that he had initially wanted to help the Tati West BPP candidate. 'I had no plans to contest Tati East but the party prevailed on me because they had no candidate. I come from Nlapkhwane in Tati West,' he said. He also refuted allegations that he is angry. 'I repeat what I told the party, namely that I am withdrawing for personal reasons,' he concluded.