His loss in the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) primaries over the weekend proves that prioritising loyalty to leadership came at a hefty price. Moagi, who also doubles as Minister of Minerals and Energy, found himself caught between a rock and a hard place when he could not publicly side with his own tribe when the latter was battling against government over a piece of land called Forest Hill 9-KO Farm. Moagi also could not verify Kgosi Seboko's claims that President Masisi interfered with the Judiciary and had promised to give Bamalete their land back should they lose the case at the highest court in the land. It was a difficult choice for Moagi who could not risk losing his Cabinet seat by standing with Bagamalete. In the end, he lost his ticket back to Parliament under the Gamalete constituency. Although the Balete tribe eventually won at the Court of Appeal (CoA), it seems like the south-eastern tribe never forgave his betrayal and the primaries popularly known as Bulela Ditswe were their chance to punish him. Newcomer, Dr Derrick Tlhoiwe, won the BDP MP candidacy to end Moagi’s dream of two successive campaigns as MP for the area.
Last year after the CoA ruling, Moagi faced another setback when Parliament removed Kgosi Mosadi from the five-member Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee. Although Moagi had come out to state that he did not support Kgosi Mosadi’s removal, it looks like Balete had decidedly marked him. One council candidate who was on Tlhoiwe’s team confessed on Saturday that it was easy to de-campaign Moagi because of the land case. “Monna ole kana ke ene wa kgang ele ya lehatshe. Ga a na le rona (This is the same man from that land case. He is not with us),” the council candidate uttered the words whenever a prospective voter mentioned Moagi. He opined that Moagi’s image in Gamalete was irredeemable and that the case had tainted his name. He said once someone had eroded Balete’s trust, it was difficult to win them back. But Moagi himself seemed like a man who had written his fate before the fortune teller could read his palm. On Saturday he was one of the earliest members to arrive at Ketshwerebothata Primary School polling station and the last to leave after losing in the ward that he had voted. Voters walked right past him as they voted for his opponent showing that his physical presence would not change a thing. They had made up their minds about him and there was no turning back. After leaving Ketshwerebothata, Moagi heard that Tlhoiwe had won the majority of the wards and that the latter was everywhere like wildfire. Tlhoiwe won with 2, 835 votes while Moagi only managed 2, 267 votes. Moagi won the Gamalete constituency in 2019 at the age of 47, snatching it from the opposition's Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
