The Alliance for Progressives (AP), a contract member of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has accused Duma Boko, the Botswana National Front (BNF) President who is also the UDC leader, of sabotaging their council candidates for the upcoming general elections.
This follows a recent high energy rally that Boko attended and launched his party’s Parliamentary and council candidates for Maun West, Maun North and Maun East
AP’s concern is that Boko blundered by double endorsing council candidates in the Nxaraga-Komana and Moeti wards, leading to their disqualification by the IEC.
Lorraine Mapolanka, AP’s Regional Chairperson, says Boko signed confirmatory letters for two different candidates in the same wards, one for the BNF and one for the AP.
“UDC President wrote letters for two different candidates, one for BNF and another for AP to contest in the same ward knowing very well that Nxaraga-Komana has been allocated to AP. He further wrote letters for two different AP candidates to be nominated for the same Moeti ward!”
Meanwhile another AP candidate, Itumeleng Takhwiri was rejected by IEC after he appeared for nomination before IEC alongside another UDC candidate, Akofang Letsamao from BNF.
Letsamao made it through as he had the support of a confirmatory letter from the UDC President.
Mapolanka further added that BNF membership is bent on taking wards that have been allocated to AP despite AP having fewer candidates in Maun constituencies. “AP is still a younger party in Northwest District and when we were awarded Maun West constituency our members did not show interest to contest for most of the wards given to us, so we took three, we gave the rest of the wards to our contract partners, BNF. Despite that they still want to contest the three wards that we remained with.”
Mapolanka said Maun West Parliamentary candidate, Tiego Mpho has since indicated that he cannot work with Nxaraga-Komana AP council candidate as he preferred somebody else from BNF hence they suspect the mess was a deliberate move by BNF to sabotage AP.
Mpho declined to comment on the matter and referred this publication to UDC’s Publicity Secretary, Moeti Mohwasa for clarity.
Mohwasa noted that Boko mistakenly signed for people he was not supposed to sign for, and that the issue was resolved before IEC closed nominations last week Friday. “There was a dispute in the wards that you are referring to. The matter was then escalated to the party president, Cde Boko. For some reason he was given some letters to sign for people who were not supposed to be signed for. When this was realised, a letter was written to the returning officer indicating who the proper candidates were.”
On the contrary, AP leadership is said to have written a different letter indicating who the rightful candidates were between Ishmael Gaamangwe and Kedibonye Kgari in Moeti ward and between Isaac Motlabaseyo and Mr Dikarano in Nxaraga-Komana ward.
Asked to explain the impasse, AP Secretary General, Dr Phenyo Butale confirmed that, “I wrote the confirmation letters because those wards were allocated to AP. That is what I was affirming so I don’t know who could have written the contrary.”
Nonetheless, by close of nominations on Friday, notice of candidates at Moeti ward did not reflect any UDC candidates but rather those representing three other political parties, Botswana Democratic Party, Botswana Congress Party and Botswana Patriotic Front and the same is said to have been the case in Nxaraga-Komana ward.
Meanwhile IEC Spokesperson Osupile Maroba explained that once a returning officer concludes their report at the end of a nomination, it cannot be challenged not even in the courts of law until after the general elections through election petitions.
