Sethodi recently resigned from his post as the acting chief of Chanoga to pave way for the heir apparent, his cousin Kabo Sekopo. Before Sethodi traded his traditional garbs for politics, rumours were abound that the BDP had identified him as the rightful person to represent it in the General Election even before he officially resigned from his customary roles.
“Those whom I have been acting for intend to take over and so naturally I have to step down to allow them to appoint their own,” said Setlhodi when he quit his chieftainship position. Out of 61 parliamentary seats that are up for grabs in the 2024 plebiscite that is normally held in October, the Maun East constituency, which is currently held by Goretetse Kekgonegile of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), was the only constituency in which the BDP has no parliamentary representative.
The three BDP candidates who had initially expressed interest to contest the party’s primaries in Maun East are former lawmaker Kostantinos Markus, Reaboka Mbulawa and Chris Bethia. However, their quests to represent the BDP were not successful. They were vetted in by the branch committee to contest in the BDP primaries only for the party’s powerful organ, Central Committee (CC), to vet them out. Mbualawa has since accepted Sethodi’s nomination through a Facebook post late Thursday afternoon.
In a statement explaining the status quo in Maun East then, the spokesperson of the BDP, Kagelelo Kentse said at the time: “It should be noted that Maun East’s consultation process for parliamentary candidates is underway and democrats will be informed as soon as it is completed.”
Former government journalist and corporate affairs guru, Gomolemo Zimona, was initially tipped as the BDP’s frontrunner to represent the BDP in Maun East. Then, Zimona told Mmegi that he was open to representing the BDP if he was formally approached by the party. BDP insiders say that Sethodi is viewed by the BDP leadership as a more sellable and appealing candidate to voters than Zimona.
Authoritative sources within the BDP say that a high powered delegation of the party led by President Mokgweetsi Masis and his deputy, Slumber Tsogwane, who is also the party chairperson, are currently in Maun to inform the BDP faithful about the CC’s decision to settle for Sethodi.
“The president and his delegation are in Maun to inform BDP structures and supporters the reasons why the party settled for Sethodi. It is only a matter of time before Sethodi is officially announced as the BDP parliamentary candidate for Maun East. Sethodi has already been consulted and has accepted to trade his traditional garbs for politics,” a BDP source said.
However, the political dynamics in Maun East changed dramatically late Thursday after Mmegi sources said that Sethodi had been nominated as the BDP candidate. When contacted, an elated Sethodi said: “Yes I have been nominated as the BDP parliamentary candidate for Maun East and I am very happy.”
Quizzed if he will make any meaningful impact taking into consideration that the General Election is just around the corner, Sethodi said: “Most voters don’t necessarily decide who to vote for before the polling day. They normally decide which party or candidate to vote for during polling day. I am optimistic that I will do well in the upcoming elections.”
The secretary general (SG) of the BDP, Kavis Kario, later confirmed that Sethodi has been nominated as the BDP parliamentary candidate for Maun East but he did not disclose reasons why the CC settled for Sethodi.
