- President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced in Maun yesterday
- Regional Chairperson says party members unanimously welcomed the decision
- This includes the trio that was vetted out
The uncertainty over the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)’s Maun East Constituency candidacy has finally come to a close with the announcement by President Mokgweetsi Masisi that former Chanoga tribal leader, Kgosi Oateng Sethodi is the party’s official candidate as decided by the Central Committee.
After leaving Maun East democrats in suspense for some time following the vetting out of the aspiring candidates- Reaboka Mbulawa, Konstantinos Markus and Chris Bethia, the party’s Central Committee (CC) led by Masisi, his vice Slumber Tsogwane was in Maun yesterday to announce Sethodi as the one who will be represent the BDP in the upcoming general elections.
The well attended consultative meeting was attended by party faithfuls – elders and structures from the Maun East, Maun West and Maun North constituencies and branches as well as the trio who were vetted out. The down to earth Sethodi was also in attendance paraded among other democrats as the party’s official candidate for Maun East.
BDP North West regional chairman Judge Sango has since confirmed the developments indicating that those who were in attendance unanimously welcomed Sethodi as the candidate the Central Committee has settled for. This he said included both Mbulawa and Markus who were also given a chance to express their views.
“This was a consultative process and people shared their opinions but overall there was no one who was against the decision, an agreement has been reached,” Sango told this publication.
This decision follows after Sethodi announced his resignation from his position as Kgosi in Chanoga last week Friday which many believed was meant to pave way for his appointment. Some political pundits suggest that Sethodi’s previous denial of any link to the Maun East candidacy was because Masisi wanted to be the one making the official announcement himself.
In his denial last week, Sethodi noted that his resignation from office was purely to pave way for rightful heir to the throne being his cousin Kabo Sekopo.
This new turn of event means Sethodi will now face Botswana Congress Party (BCP) candidate, Goretetse Kekgonegile who is the incumbent as well as Baraedi Lekabe of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
While political pundits believe that the delay by the BDP in announcing their candidate has essentially handed the constituency to the opposition on a silver platter, especially to the BCP candidate Goretetse Kekgonegile, the party’s secretary general, Kavis Kario has previously expressed confidence that they are going to win the constituency with their identified candidate.
At one point, this delay led to some party elders from the constituency threatening to boycott primary elections expressing their unhappiness with the party leadership.
The announcement comes at a time when the party is headed for its Special National Congress this weekend in Tlokweng where members will elect their presidential candidate who will lead the party to the 2024 general elections. During this event, it remains to be seen if any party member will stand to challenge Masisi for the presidency. The following day, the party will launch its 2024 manifesto and also introduce all of its parliamentary candidate where Sethodi will also be paraded along his councillors. Meanwhile Masisi is yet to announce the elections date which are usually held in October just over a month away.
