The other (Lawrence) Ookeditse did not need several opportunities to make it through the ballot but the other Ookeditse has turned into Botswana's own John Turmel. Ookeditse Malesu has tried his hand across sport codes but the message from the voters has always been emphatic.
Despite the overwhelming rejection, he has nonchalantly hopped from one election to another. It could be two ways, his messages do not resonate with the sport (even politics) electorate or he is simply misunderstood.
Over the weekend, for the umpteenth time, Malesu's name was on a ballot paper and the result was the predictable outcome; a convincing defeat.
It is the nature of rejection, usually one or two votes that should concern Malesu and that could possibly convince him that his election package is not what the doctor ordered.
But as a form of consolation, Malesu would know that at the end of the day, it is not necessarily the substance that matter, but other factors could be at play when determining the ultimate winner.
The weekend's headline moment belonged to Tshepo Sitale, who became the new Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) president, but Malesu's Turmel record could not escape attention.
In fact it became the talking point long after the last delegate had left the Oasis Hotel, venue of Malesu's latest Turmel moment. Canadian Turmel holds the world's record of being the biggest election loser, who had, by 2018 tried his luck 96 times.
Malesu is far from reaching that number, but by local standards, it is difficult to look any further for a candidate who has suffered the most fatal blows in an election. After the weekend loss, Malesu has indicated that he is not bowing out of the stage yet, having tried his hand across different codes like swimming, karate, football and recently, the Olympics body.
He was also on the list in the build up to the country's 2024 General Election with outcomes remaining unaltered.
“I wish I knew why voters keep rejecting me. Maybe they did not understand my campaign clearly, but I will not give up.
“I believe that one I will win, absolutely,” was Malesu's reaction to Sport Monitor after yet another chastening defeat.
To be fair to Malesu, his messages for the sport family are not markedly different from what candidates promise, therefore it could have nothing to do with the substance, but just a hoodoo that he is failing to shake off.
Like his Canadian counterpart, Malesu has no regrets about constantly knocking on sport affiliates' doors asking for a vote.
And it looks like he will be back soon asking for more votes but a change of tact and message delivery is required if he is to finally shake off the unwanted record, and who knows, may be Malesu is the sport's missing link.
