Maripe not contesting Tati East anymore

Maripe has since changed his mind regarding his earlier plans to contest the Tati East constituency. Inside sources say his retreat is an expression of anger at the way he has been treated by the party leadership. "After making it clear that he would not defend his position as president of the BPP at the congress due to fatigue and ill-health, Motlatsi Molapisi, on the advice of some in the party leadership, convinced Maripe to succeed Molapisi and Maripe agreed," said a source.

Reportedly, some in the leadership of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) prevailed on Molapisi not to retire before the 2014 general elections for the sake of continuity as certain aspects of the UDC were yet to be finalised. The UDC is a coalition of the BPP, BMD and  the Botswana National Front (BNF), in which Molapisi had led the BPP team in the cooperation negotiations.