Voters are 'king' in Ngamiland

KETO SEGWAI
Staff Writer | Friday July 11, 2008 00:00

 

Many candidates are busy plying their political trade in the constituencies of Okavango, Ngami, Maun East and West.

Typical of the campaigns nowadays, the potential voter has literally been laden with an enviable 'customer is king' treatment. Not only are candidates wining and dining but they are also visiting destinations of their choice.

Funerals, weddings, mantsho a bana, and related ceremonies have become agenda items for the desperate politicians. They are an ideal hunting ground for a vote-starved candidate. For once, the ruled are riding on the rulers' forced benevolence. Some of these now spoilt beneficiaries can be so blunt in their demands. As one brazenly announced at a bar in Sehitwa, albeit within ear-short of a council candidate, 'Nna motho ga ntshiela, ke mo neela thopo ya me'. And the would be candidate took up the bait or rather a gamble. A gamble because for sure one is never certain they are going to get the critical vote on the crucial date. As they say: Ke go baya fela mo Modimong.

The boon for the potential voters is the fact that the on-going campaigns are running concurrently - both for party primaries and general elections. While the opposition parties in the region have just wrapped up their primaries, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is to conclude theirs on 26 July. The intensity of the campaign is therefore more pronounced within the BDP camp than elsewhere. And this camp is often well endowed with resources to the predilection of the would-be voter. Could it be that Botswana's electioneering has subsequently become a deep-pocketed affair?

The contesting parties are: Botswana Alliance Movement/Botswana Congress Party (BAM/BCP), BDP, and Botswana National Front (BNF). The following is the list of contestants:
Okavango
Benson Dibebe (BNF)
Vistor Moruti/Mbaha Kambimba (BDP)
BAM/BCP are yet to nominate a candidate following the death of Joseph Kavindama.
Ngami
Jacob Nkate/Thato Kwerepe (BDP)
Taolo Habano (BAM/BCP)
Gasethata Modimoosi (BNF)
Maun East
Frank Ramsden/Claude Gabanakemo (BDP)
Rodgers Makgetho (BAM/BCP)
Lazenby Wright (BNF)
Maun West
Ronald Ridge/Moremi Tawana (BDP
Moaparankwe Mpho (BAM/BCP)
Laurine Maplanka (BNF)