The UDC candidates are supposed to be launched this weekend. Some BNF members are dissatisfied with the UDC’s failure to implement the recommendations of the UDC chairperson, Motlatsi Molapise. As a result, calls are growing for the constituency chairperson to delay the launch until reconciliation is achieved. Members are even threatening to boycott the current candidates. Tensions have long plagued Tlokweng, with some BNF members believing that their affiliate, Alliance for Progress (AP), has unfairly benefited at their expense, particularly given the AP’s poor performance in the 2019 General Election. They argue that the AP should not be allocated any wards due to its disappointing results. Additionally, accusations are levelled against the UDC candidate, who is also a BNF member, of showing favouritism towards AP candidates, partly because he has switched from the AP to the UDC.
Mmegi has learnt that supporters of Masego Segokgo, now a Botswana Congress Party (BCP) candidate, are prepared to vote for him if their concerns remain unresolved. Before defecting to the BCP, Masego had lost in the primary elections to Phenyo Segokgo, a UDC candidate in the BNF primary elections. The letter written by the concerned group dated September 9, 2024, reads in part: “It has come to our attention that some wards allocated to the BNF have been taken by the AP. The wards allocated to the BNF by the UDC chairperson, Molapise, were 10, while the AP was given two wards. Therefore, we request your committee to stop announcing the AP candidates who have not been allocated the wards. We ask your committee to inform the AP to make the way for the BNF candidates with immediate effect. The BNF candidates are ready to take over." Furthermore, the letter requested the committee to tell the AP to remove their posters with immediate effect on those wards. Moreover, the concerned members requested an urgent meeting with the UDC constituency committee. The five wards that the concerned group is complaining about include Sefhoke, Lesunyana, Matlala, Letlapeng and Selokwana.
