Ngoma served as Francistown mayor from 1999 until 2004 under the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). Between 2015 and 2019, he was a Specially Nominated Councillor in Francistown East Constituency, after failing several times to win a parliamentary seat. He ditched the former ruling party after allegedly realising that Bulela Ditswe is always marred by irregularities and daylight cheating to favour certain candidates. In his bid to become Francistown mayor, Ngoma will face off with another UDC councillor, Gaone Majere of Tshwaragano ward.
The decision on who should be the city mayor as well as the deputy will be decided in a caucus meeting featuring UDC councillors and party leaders (in Francistown). The names of those who want to challenge for the position of deputy mayor are still not in the public domain. The UDC is the majority party in the Francistown City Council chambers. This gives the party liberty to decide the mayor at its caucus before endorsement at the full council meeting, which is billed for next week. There have been mixed feelings about Ngoma’s candidacy with some critics suggesting that he should pave a way for others to take over. “I believe the city has regressed in all aspects of development. During my tenure as mayor, Francistown advanced in many areas in terms of most notably in terms of infrastructure and economically. I successfully advocated for the construction of Phillip Matante International Airport in the city when government wanted to construct it in Serule,” Ngoma told The Monitor this week.
“Amongst others, I also successfully lobbied against the closure of Francistown College of Education. The government only closed the school long after my tenure. I would have strongly opposed the move because it is amongst the factors that weakened the economy of the city. That was a strategic institution,” he added. Ngoma stated that if endorsed by the UDC caucus to lead the ruling party in local government, his primary focus will be more on lobbying investors to set up in the country’s second city. “I already have several ideas in terms of how the economy of the city can be turned around from a local government perspective, which I will table at a UDC caucus,” he said.
Meanwhile, Majere who reportedly has the support of a majority of UDC councillors in the city believes that he has acquired enough experience as a councillor, which will ultimately help him apply himself effectively as the city mayor if endorsed. “I'm on my third term as a councillor. The first two tenures were instrumental in terms of helping grasp the functions of the local government and the aspirations of the people of Francistown. I also previously advocated for policies and initiatives to revitalise the city’s economy, but many were not embraced or adopted because I was in the opposition.
Now, with the ruling party, I believe I can help drive these initiatives, as a mayor,” said the 38-year-old. Majere and other councillors have for years been strongly advocating for specific economic reforms meant to revive the economy of Francistown, to no avail. The city has been struggling to shrug off the economic challenges emanating from the closure of Tati Nickel Mining Company nearly 10 years ago.
