BMD on recruitment drive in Ngami constituency

Prominent members of the Botswana Movement for Democracy BMD have embarked on a rigorous campaign to recruit members in the Ngami Constituency.

This follows a poor performance of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) at council and parliamentary levels in the constituency during the 2014 general election.

Ngami constituency, which has been known as a stronghold of opposition, Botswana Congress Party (BCP) was won by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) with 7063 votes. The BCP got 7015, while UDC came last with 802 votes. Speaking in an interview with this publication BMD secretary general, who is also Member of Parliament for Mochudi West, Gilbert Mangole disclosed that their campaign, known as “BMD Membership Drive” aims at promoting the UDC Moono, which is not well known in the Northern part of Botswana.

“We started BMD membership drive at Bobonong and the results were positive, which bolstered our resolve and hopes”, he said, adding that although they encountered challenges of lack of resources, they have so many chances in the Ngami constituency. “That is why we decided to have BMD membership drive,” he said.

He said they are going around the District to mobilise and register new members, saying they are now targeting BMD members only and that the other parties in UDC will do the same drive in areas where they feel attention is needed until they are certain of such areas. Mangole who was unable to reveal the number of registered new members because other teams were scattered all over the district, highlighted that the youth are showing interest in their tour and their response is positive and they are registering high numbers.

He was hopeful that they would do well in the constituency in the next election. He said they have received so many members from other political parties especially the ruling BDP, adding that their intentions include bringing about political change in the country.

Mangole called on the youth as the drivers of change to stand up and help them fulfil their target in the upcoming election and take over government. About the ongoing talks with BCP, Mangole expressed hope that they would yield positive results so that all the opposition parties confront the BDP as a single force in the 2019 general election.