This week, Moseki confirmed that he has applied for nomination to contest the BCP primaries which will be held later this month.
“It is true that I have officially submitted my name to contest the BCP primaries in Nkange constituency. I had said that I am retiring from active politics, but circumstances do change. No one recalled me.
I independently made the decision to contest the primaries,” he told Mmegi. Moseki said the reason he had reversed his decision to return to active politics is because of people who recently left the party in the constituency.
The BCP lost several members including Nkange. The said members chose to remain with the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) when the BCP quit the former. The BCP also expelled incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Never Tshabang who was not entirely convinced that the party should quit the UDC. Tshabang won the 2019 General Election under the UDC banner.
Then the BCP was under the UDC.
Tshabang maintained his stay under the UDC when he was expelled. “I do not want to say much about my return, but I feel like I have a role to play towards the growth of the party which is why I am contesting the primaries. I am a soldier of the movement,” Moseki added. Insiders have told Mmegi that Moseki was influenced by some members of the constituency to vie for the primaries because he is considered a resident. He hails from Tutume, which is one of the major villages in the Nkange constituency.
Moseki’s decision not to contest in Francistown East has reportedly unsettled many BCP diehards who are of the view that he stood a chance of winning the constituency from the BDP given the dynamics post the 2019 General Election. He has previously contested the general elections in Francistown East since 2004 when he garnered 1, 419 votes while Phandu Skelemani then of the BDP got 3, 255 votes. At the 2009 General Election he nearly snatched the constituency from the BDP after obtaining 3, 130 against Skelemani’s 3, 598. At the 2014 General Election, Moseki managed 3,573 votes against Buti Billy’s 3,818. Billy represented the BDP. But when he quit in 2019, he had garnered 2,632 against Billy’s 4,652 votes.
Moseki also explained that the reason he chose to contest elections in Nkange at the expense of Francistown East is because the latter has not experienced a significant loss of members since the last general elections. “I still maintain that when people left, they brought new challenges to the party and I believe that I have a role to play (to counter the challenges),” he said.
He was reluctant to go into details on the challenges which he says emerged when some people quit the party in the constituency. Moseki is expected to contest against businessman and University of Botswana (UB) academic, Motlhaleemang Moalosi, of Marapong for the primaries. Moalosi has been very intent about his desire to contest the BCP primaries. He has been campaigning vigorously in the constituency in a bid to assert himself. Moalosi previously contested for Shashe West before the recent delimitation exercise placed Marapong under Nkange constituency. The winner of the primaries will meet Tshabang who has been confirmed as the UDC candidate. The BDP candidacy will be determined after the party primaries later this year.
