Joina to stand as BCP parley candidate

Love him or hate him, you just can’t ignore Themba Joina, the president of the MELS Movement.And who to realise this than Botswana Congress Party (BCP), which has already begun courting him with the view to have him stand as the party’s parliamentary candidate for Tonota South in 2014 when the nation goes to the polls.

“The BCP has been holding talks with Joina to try and see how best they could utilise him to grow the party across the country,” said BCP secretary general Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang this week. He said indications were that they were winning in their attempt to court Joina “although we are still to finalise the talks.”

  It is BCP’s expectation that Joina will add more value to the growth of the party ahead of 2014. Joina has been in opposition politics for a long time and BCP feels that his presence would change the party’s fortunes.
“He [Joina] has been articulating important issues which are of interest to local opposition politics.

Joina is also an experienced politician who has seen it all in the political arena of this country,” added Gobotswang.

The BCP leader confirmed that Joina was likely to stand in Tonota South following revelations that the constituents want him to stand. Joina is currently consulting with the MELS’ membership and structures across the country about the decision, but the deal is as good as done, according to Gobotswang. Contacted for a comment, Joina confirmed negotiations currently taking place between MELS and the BCP.

However, he could not be drawn into discussing the matter at length for fear of preempting the outcome of the consultations. “I can confirm that negotiations between MELS Movement and BCP are ongoing, but I cannot discuss the matter at this juncture, besides, I need to finish with membership consultations first before commenting much,” he said.