Dabutha started as the sole BNF councillor in the city 1979 before entering Parliament in 1984. By then a majority of councillors in Gaborone were from BNF. For the next 25 years, Gaborone became the stronghold of the BNF. But things started going wrong slowly but surely in 1998 when a split in the BNF gave birth to the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). The BNF have never recovered fully from the trauma as squabbles mostly resulting from factionalism dodged the party to this day. As each year passed by, the parties' woes grew faster than a veldt-fire and many voters lost hope in the leadership.
Fast-forward to the 2009 elections and the BNF has gone back to where it started with one council seat in the Gaborone. It is also worth noting that the sole councillor of Bontleng Ward in Gaborone South, 33-year-old Olebogeng Kemelo won with a margin of one vote. He beat Matshidiso Moremedi of the Botswana Democratic Parry (BDP) by 425 votes to 424. "We came late to campaign due to everything that was happening within our party. Each vote mattered for us," he said yesterday at the council meeting that was electing the new mayor and the deputy.
