Boko explains absence from public

Sharon Mathala
BACK AGAIN: Duma Boko

•There is no BNF or BCP we are the UDC- Boko

The president of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Duma Boko stayed out of the limelight for sometime after losing his constituency in the October general election.

The charismatic leader however later made a public appearance when briefing UDC MPs at parliament in a short meeting and then hibernated again.

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The leader of the blue nation has now resurfaced once again this time in court where the UDC election petition case was being heard.

Boko –who lost his constituency to Annah Motlhagodi of the Botswana Democratic Party forms part of the 16 UDC members who have taken the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to court over what they have termed as fraudulent election full of irregularities.

The cases continue before Gaborone High court and Francistown high court

Speaking on the sidelines of the court case the charismatic leader explained his absence from the public space in a brief media interaction.

“I have been around, after the election when you now are faced with an enormous fraudulent outcome you need to focus on that, I am one person who does not speak unless I have something to say. I have been meeting witnesses and lining up petition papers to ensure they are properly filed. I have been hard at work, with a petition you have limited time to work with and so I have been busy,” he said

Dispelling rumors about his whereabouts Boko explained that, “When you are a leader in times of crisis you need to remain calm, I am always chilled in hell fire. I have been down so many times that down don’t bother me no more. “

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Commenting on the petitions before court he said, “We need to expose this fraud now and for the future. If we let the BDP get away with this fraud in the coming 2024 elections they will do the same. The level of theft they carry out they have now taken into the scared space of election and have stolen them.”

He continued to say, “This is not about me, we must at some point have a commitment to something bigger than all of us and that is the democratic process of this country. We are faithful to democracy and we are loyal to peace and tranquility.”

On the question of alleged division within the UDC, the UDC leader said, “The UDC is united; united around two critical conditions, loyalty to democracy and democratic principles. There is no BNF and BCP. No! There is UDC, if you remember at the conference held at Baisago by the UDC there was a consideration of a merger of the parties in some shape or form so those will remain just as talks. The UDC is resilient.”

UDC managed to garner only 15 seats out of the 54 constituencies with the heaviest blow being the loss suffered by its leader, Boko to the ruling party.

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