He made the clarification ahead of the party’s primary elections which are expected to be held by the end of April or early May. Kario told Mmegi on Thursday that the party’s Central Committee (CC) makes the final decision, not the branch committees. This comes hardly after it was leaked to the media that the Gaborone North constituency has vetted out councillor Lotty Manyapedza and former legislator Phillip Makgalemele amongst others. In Gaborone Bonnington North, where Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Anna Mokgethi is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), there are reports that aspirants Ookeditse Malesu and Poloko Pitwane have also been vetted out.
According to Kario, branch committees only make recommendations to the CC. “They don’t have the authority to choose the final candidates who will contest for the primary elections. The branch committees' vetting process ends today (Thursday) which includes interviews for candidates and a recommendation report for each candidate. “It is wrong for some branch committee recommendations about individuals to be leaked. It is worth noting that what those individuals are doing is unethical and actions will be taken by the party,” he said. Kario added that the branch committee is not expected to release or share what they submit to CC since it is not final. The party SG said the CC is the one which would make final decisions on who is going to contest or not for the party. Furthermore, he is disappointed some branch committees leak information before it reaches the CC.
