BDP vs BDP, again

3476,Tsaone Basimanebotlhe,php5334.tmp.jpg, | Sunday May 24, 2015 00:00

The crucial court decision coincides with a deadline by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for political parties to have submitted names of their candidates by end of business today for the Goodhope/Mabule by-election.

Motsaathebe lost to Eric Molale at the BDP primary elections that were held over the weekend.

Giving impetus to Motsaathebe’s case is that when the young BDP activist wrote to the party office seeking a recount, and challenging some irregularities, the votes increased from the previous results that were announced in the wee hours of Sunday morning. After the Wednesday recounting, the votes for Molale increased from 703 to 737, Motsaathebe 625 to 692, Kopo Mononi 468 to 498, Phillip Sebakile 207 to 217 and Tony Mogatle 59 to 60.  This is a difference of 142 votes.

BDP secretary general Botsalo Ntuane confirmed last night that the central committee had reached the decision following the verification exercise of ballots carried out on Wednesday night that Molale would be their candidate.

“Molale has been confirmed as BDP candidate whose name will be nominated tomorrow. Due to human errors in the tallying of figures the verification exercise yielded a verification of the initial figures announced on 18 July after primary elections,” Ntuane said.

Ntuane, Botlhogile Tshireletso and other BDP members spent the whole of yesterday afternoon in Goodhope trying to reconcile the weekend candidates who were contesting in the primary elections. 

Their efforts did not bear any fruit since Motsaathebe has approached the courts for a solution.

Motsaathebe’s attorney Obonye Jonas confirmed that they would be filing an urgent application today in the morning to seek for a recount.

“It is true, I will be representing Motsaathebe tomorrow to seek for a re-count of ballots at the BDP office,” Jonas said.

This is not the first time the BDP has been  faced with such a dilemma regarding its candidates for the parliamentary by-elections.

In November 2013, following the passing of  Tshelang Masisi, a dispute between Whyte Marobela and Ignatius Moswaane over the outcome of BDP primaries in Francistown West ended with the party barred from fielding a candidate. The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) activist, Habaudi Hobona went on to win the seat but lost it to Moswaane in the October 2014 general elections.

The post for the Goodhope/Mabule constituency fell vacant after its former MP James Mathokgwane of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) joined government enterprise, SPEDU in Selebi Phikwe. 

If Motsaathebe fails the court route, Molale will contest against Kgosi Lotlamoreng II of UDC and Comfort Maruping of the BCP.