GROANINGS FROM WITHIN
Members of the Alliance for Progressives (AP) in Molepolole allege unfair treatment by the Botswana National Front (BNF) within the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) coalition, accusing the BNF of seizing council wards allocated to AP candidates.
They allege that the BNF has always acted in a bullish manner even to the point where they stole council wards that were allocated to the AP within the coalition.
According to George Matsatsi, who was one of the people that negotiated the ward allocation within the UDC, out of 11 wards, the BNF was allocated seven wards, three to AP and one to a UDC direct member.
However, BNF took two more wards from the AP and the one that was allocated to a direct member of the UDC.
Matsatsi is not surprised that the BNF has acted in this manner because when negotiations were ongoing the BNF candidates would campaign for wards as if they had already been allocated.
He said that they have tried their best to officially complain through letters but their complaints fell on deaf ears.
An aspiring council candidate, Botlhale Bafise from Lentsweletau North was allocated ward by the UDC in Lentsweletau North. In the nine wards allocated to Lentseletau- Lephephe, three were given
to AP and six to BNF.
Bafise said that even though they were allocated the wards, BNF campaigned in the ward that she was allocated. She alleges that the BNF members would taunt her and asked villagers not to listen to her as she is not a candidate.
Bafise said that at UDC level she paid the mandatory P1000 to the party to be registered, but on the day of nomination of candidates by IEC, she was stunned to see her BNF counterparts collect a letter before she was to collect hers.
“Ba ba berekelang mo offising ya UDC ba ne ba tlhalosa gore ne ba nkwaletse lekwalo ko Rre Boko, mme o le tsere a bo a le kgarola, ka gore o kwaletse wa BNF,” loosely translated to; President of the UDC Duma Boko has torn the nomination letter of Bafise and written a letter for the BNF counterpart who was not allocated any ward.
An anonymous source from the Botswana Congress party (BCP) said that disgruntled AP members will support the BCP in the upcoming elections however members of AP in Molepolole refused to disclose who they would vote for in the upcoming elections citing that what is done in the polling station is a private matter.
In response to the allegations spokesperson of the UDC, Moeti Mohwasa, denied any wrongdoing by the coalition or its leadership. He said that the UDC was unaware of any instances of BNF unlawfully taking wards from AP or other UDC members.
Mohwasa emphasised that it would assist greatly if the complainants could specify which wards they were referring to, as no such occurrences had come to the attention of the UDC leadership.
Explaining the coalition's processes, Mohwasa said that ward allocations were first handled by lower structures. If disagreements arose, they were referred to the secretary generals of the affiliate parties, and if consensus still could not be reached, the matter was escalated to the National Executive Committee (NEC).
He noted that the negotiation process inherently involved compromise, where each party had to give up some demands to gain others.
'It is not a zero-sum game,' he said, adding that complaints from all affiliate parties, including direct members, were addressed.
Mohwasa denied the allegation that UDC President Duma Boko interfered with the nomination process. According to him, Boko was acting under a mandate from the NEC to address outstanding ward allocation issues ahead of the nomination day.
Mohwasa also dismissed the notion of immediate disciplinary action against coalition members. He explained that the UDC prefers to engage and reason with members before resorting to disciplinary proceedings, which are seen as a last resort.
In fact, he noted, some BNF members were also dissatisfied with the decisions taken by Boko, but he insisted that the UDC leader acted in the best interest of the coalition and the people of Botswana.