Councillor sets electoral precedent

In an unprecedented development, a sitting councilor is standing for a by- election in Metlojane. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP councilllor, 50 year old Mmaobene Molefe, first became a councillor in 2004 by popular vote. In 2009, after losing the elections to Motseothata Pitso of the Botswana National Front (BNF), she became a specially elected councillor, a position she still holds.

Following the death of Pitso recently, Molefe stood for the party primary elections beating her competitor, Richard Ikgopoleng by 381 votes to 118. Many people including Ikgopoleng expected her to resign her seat before contesting the by- election.

“Although I have got little understanding of these things, I expected her to resign so that she contests both the primary and by –election from an equal footing with her challengers. Besides, people get confused when she asks them to vote her to council to bring them services when she is a councillor already and in a position to do what she says she seeks to do,’’ said Ikgopoleng in a telephone interview.

An ardent BDP supporter, Ikgopoleng vows that despite what has happened, he would support Molefe to the bitter end. Acknowledging the peculiarity of the Metlojane situation with respect to the BDP candidate, the party assistant executive secretary Lee Lesetedi said that initially, the party took the position that Molefe should resign from council if she wanted to contest.

“However after consultations with the council secretary as well as studying the instruments governing elections, it was decided that the situation did not call for resignation. No law, either from the party, the Local Government Act or Electoral Act, is against her contesting,” declared Lesetedi.

The senior public relations officer in the Independent Electoral Commission Communication (IEC) office, Osupile Maroba revealed that his office had never dealt with a situation like that “We have had to look at all the material instruments but found nothing that disqualifies her from standing for the by-election. The law is silent. Because she is duly registered and was nominated, she therefore qualifies to contest,” added Maroba.