Though there were four parliamentary hopefuls, two fell off the race on the morning of Bulela Ditswe, both confirming rallying behind Finance and Development minister, Peggy Serame. The Monitor first caught up with Ogone Gaboutloele, who maintains he would have won the constituency had he stayed on. He shows our team his withdrawal letter. He says his decision wasn't influenced by anyone or any forces, but it was purely a ‘money issue’. “This campaign honestly took a toll on me financially. I can tell you I have had to spend close to half a million pula on the campaign and unlike other candidates, I don’t have any other resources at my disposal. I have depleted my savings and initially, I didn't anticipate that the campaign would take this long and every day requires money,” he said.
Pressed further he said it’s "an open secret that our constituency is one of the largest if not the largest". "There are so many wards which require at least five personnel per ward. And each person needs about P300 for food, airtime, and all the like. Honestly, it's proved unreasonable because I'm also a single father," he said. Asked why he had to wait for the morning of the election to quit, Gaboutloele maintained there was nothing sinister about his withdrawal.
He went on to tell The Monitor that he would bounce back in the next election cycle, with more money. He, however, quickly acknowledged that he was a distant cousin to one of the candidates. Does this mean he would throw his weight behind her? Gaboutloele laughed it off. "Well, she is my preferred yes. But this doesn't mean I will force those behind me to follow her. They followed me out of their will so I can’t necessarily force them who to choose,” he said. For his part, Kopo Mononi, who was also an aspiring Member of Parliament told The Monitor that he formalised his intention to withdraw from the race the day before the elections. For him, the decision was simple as he had been approached by the party leadership.
“I was convinced after we engaged with the party leadership. I'm now rallying behind Mma Serame as a decision influenced by women's empowerment,” he explained. Poked further he explained, “I was called by the party leadership to consider having one candidate. I was called alone. They did have a favourite who they wanted me to support but I won’t tell you who. All I can tell you is that I decided to support Peggy for women's empowerment.”
