Mmegi

BCP, BDP fight for BNF’s old wreck

Mosedame PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE
Mosedame PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

Gaborone South, a constituency which was a Botswana National Front (BNF) stronghold from 1984 before the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) snatched it in the 2009 General Election, is now a hunting ground as parties prepare for the upcoming October polls.

The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) recently invaded Old Naledi popularly known as Zola as the two parties hope to claim the Gaborone South constituency in the upcoming General Election. The incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency is Dumezweni Mthimkhulu. The area is made up of wards, Naledi South, Naledi Central, Naledi North, Babusi, Bontleng and Selemela. The BCP was the first in Gaborone South recently as it aimed to salvage lifeless wrecks of its parent party when they headed to the shores of Gaborone's iconic township. The BCP, a BNF splinter party, has never won this constituency and basically has shaky footprints in an area which was regarded as the former BNF leader the late Dr Kenneth Koma’s political bunker. Oral Mosedame of the BCP has been deployed by the lime movement to salvage the sunken BNF wreck from the seabed. But it will not be easy because the same party, which sank it almost 15 years ago, made sure that the task carries an element of risk.

Mosedame identifies as a person who belongs to the historically impoverished, high-density Old Naledi and during his recent launch, he could not help but emphasise that the BDP-led government does not care about Gaborone's oldest and poorest locations. “This is one of the oldest constituencies and Gaborone grew and developed from here. Various areas of Gaborone are made of bricks from Gaborone South but unfortunately it is the least developed in Gaborone. What have we done to the BDP to treat us this way especially that they found us here and never developed us,” Mosedame said. He said the BDP denies people in the constituency access to water and land. Mosedame said there were people who used to survive by fishing but the current government decided to deny them access to the Gaborone Dam.

He said the Gaborone South constituents has given a chance to both the BNF and the BDP therefore it was time to give the BCP a chance. Mosedame and his entourage, including party president Dumelang Saleshando and specially elected legislator, Unity Dow, were in the Old Naledi grounds scanning and mapping for the vessel which was sank by the BDP’s Kagiso Molatlhegi at the height of the BNF’s internal rumbles in 2009. Saleshando himself tried to use historical accounts to locate the wreck and indicated that the first time he ever heard of Gaborone South was during the infamous 1984 Tshiamo ballot box when Dr Koma beat the then Vice President Peter Mmusi to immortalise his status in the constituency. Mosedame, Dow and Saleshando highlighted that despite being in the capital city, Gaborone South lacks developments. They raised many issues like high unemployment especially among the youth who stay at home doing nothing. But the BCP’s launch was countered by the BDP leader four days later when President Mokgweetsi Masisi visited the same area to assure constituents that the ruling party still cares about them. Masisi was pictured interacting with the ordinary Old Naledi folks and in a viral picture he was seen holding a carton of Chibuku. Masisi knows the BDP cannot afford to hand over the constituency back to the opposition especially after being victorious in 2009, following 25 years of failed attempts. Masisi’s move was seen by political observers as a counter to what the BCP had sown in Zola a few days earlier. The BDP, which is yet to hold primary elections, will be represented by either Mthimkhulu or his politically unknown challenger Kagiso Rantswaneng. For the BNF, which is currently under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), the former president of the Botswana National Front Youth League (BNFYL), Nelson Ramaotwana, has already been chosen as the candidate. Ramaotwana was the UDC candidate in 2019 but lost to Mthimkhulu. The former Mayor of Gaborone will try his luck again as he aims to win back the constituency, which was lost by then incumbent BNF MP Akanyang Magama in 2009. Magama, former legislator for the constituency, took over Gaborone South from the late Dr Koma who had held it from 1984 to 2004. Following Koma’s defection to the National Democratic Party (NDF) and the latter fielding Dick Bayford for the constituency in 2004, the BNF still managed to retain it under Magama. After Magama lost to Molatlhegi in 2009, he later defected to the BCP only for the latter to field him again for the same constituency in the 2014 General Election. It is said that Magama blamed the instability that gripped the BNF before the 2009 General Election where he had to fight for his candidacy in court.

The Magama-Molatlhegi rematch in 2014 produced the same results with Molatlhegi standing tall once more. Before the 2019 General Election, Molatlhegi, former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, gave way for Mthimkhulu who retained the seat for the BDP and if he wins the primaries he will face off with Ramaotwana once more as Mosedame joins the battle for the very first time. Stakes will be high and for the opposition, the target is the unemployed who are fed up with the BDP government. The opposition wonders why the Old Naledi poor are still willing to vote for the BDP after all these years. They are hoping that the unemployed mighty in their numbers could end BDP’s 15 year dominance in the area.

However, the BDP with their programmes still preaches a better life for both the working class and the unemployed. They continue to indicate that they would do more to advance the Old Naledi constituents' economic interests. With the middle-class voters struggling to maintain their financial position with generally low incomes, the BDP has a huge task to convince the voters that their situation will change after October. The BDP candidates have to explain to the Gaborone South residents why the latter should still put trust on them despite developments lacking in the area.

Editor's Comment
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