On the other side of the battle was Sidney Pilane led Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) whose activists campaigned hard for the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) candidate, Modala Modala. Johane Mothoosele, the campaign manager for the losing independent candidate, Chibuya Dabutha confirmed that AP had pledged its full support to their campaigns. Mothoosele told Mmegi that, “It’s true that we had an impressive support from the AP. They assisted with their vehicles for us to effectively run the campaigns, provided fuel and even hired some tents. They visited us regularly to see how campaigns were progressing”.
He said prospects of them joining the AP are very high if Botswana Congress Party (BCP) continued, “mistreating” them as it happened with their candidate, Dabutha. He explained that they started massive campaigns in 2015 to thoroughly prepare for 2019 general elections, unfortunately councillor Leposo Mosarwe passed away resulting in the by-election. Dabutha came a distant third with only 63 votes, in a low-key election in which the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) retained the seat. The winner, Katholo Tapologo garnered 469 votes against Modala Modala of the UDC with 318.
