- Masisi, Tsogwane met with BDP North West region on Wednesday
- Cllrs want Masisi, Cabinet to help win NW constituencies
- Suggest for ministers to visit the region frequently
- Pleads for govt to resolve key issues in the district
The Botswana Democratic Party North West region has in its desperate attempts to regain control of the region called for support from President Mokgweetsi Masisi, party leadership and cabinet ministers.
Ahead of the 2024 general elections, the party is fighting tooth and nail to destabilise opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) which is currently ruling the region.
Four constituencies of the five in the region – Maun East, Maun West, Ngami and Okavango are under the opposition, while only Chobe is under BDP. The UDC is also the majority in the North West District Council(NWDC) and have subsequently taken control of the main council as well as the Maun Sub Council.
This week the party in the region took advantage of the Cabinet retreat held in Maun to get the attention of the party leader Masisi and his cabinet to drum up support. In a meeting held on Wednesday night in Maun, NWDC leader of opposition, Moetetsi Mogalakwe and others were set to present to Masisi and BDP Chairman, Slumber Tsogwane a litany of proposals the region needs the party to assist them with.
In an earlier interview with this publication, Mogalakwe disclosed that they want Masisi to be much closer to them since they do not have any Member of Parliament in the Ngamiland to assist them in their political battle against the opposition.
He further indicated that they will also call for the ministers to visit the district frequently because they are the ones who can help them claim the region.
“We will advocate for them to be very close to us so that we can retain the constituencies. The ministers should visit us frequently so that we can give them key issues that needs to be addressed in the district,” Mogalakwe stressed.
At the meeting the Makalamabedi Councilor revealed that they will also present to the president and his vice some of the key areas that need attention, among them poor roads, vacant government posts as well as dilapidated buffalo fences.
Mogalakwe acknowledged that the Gumare-Shakawe road needs to be maintained adding that the human-wildlife conflict in the area is caused by damaged buffalo fences. He added that they will also plead for vacant leadership posts such as ones for the District Commissioner and Senior Council Secretary to be filled.
The leader of opposition in council believes the party lost the constituencies in the region as a result of constituents protesting poor developments.
“They are teaching us not to be relaxed but to represent them well on these issues and that is what we want to do,” he stressed.
Meanwhile the BDP North West Regional Chairperson, Reaboka Mbulawa could not disclose much about the agenda of the meeting on the basis that it was a private session. Mbulawa however concurred that the presence of Masisi and his Vice in the district was of paramount importance looking at the fact that they have only one Member of Parliament in the region.
Mbulawa said that the party leadership besides applauding them for a job well done in the recent council elections they have also told them that they seriously want for the BDP to win the four other constituencies in the next coming general elections.
Meanwhile in the attempts to regain control of the region the BDP has only recently during the council elections managed to wrestle the leadership of the Okavango Sub Council from the UDC. The party is also reported to have embarked on an intensive recruitment drive targeting members of the UDC in the region with some of the top crucial members of the opposition earmarked to join the ruling party soon.
Not only that the ruling party seem to also be utilising the ongoing feud between the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the Botswana National Front (BNF) to destabilise the opposition in the region. They have recently connived with some of the BCP councilors to vote for their candidates during the council election and the party has reportedly vowed to maintain the same tactic in some of other crucial agendas of the council that may rise.
