A three-horse race for Mogoditshane in 2019
The 2019 general elections will come with headaches for Mogoditshane residents as they will be compelled to make a choice between their homeboy Sedirwa Kgoroba of the Alliance for Progressives (AP) and the new kid of the moment Tshepang Mabaila. Mabaila caused an upset when he defeated political veterans Patrick Masimolole and Kgang Kgang during the just-ended Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) primaries.
To add cherry on top, residents will cross their fingers for Chillyboy Rakgare to be given the green light to contest in the constituency which he believes to be his home ground. In the last general elections, residents of Mogoditshane vowed to back Kgoroba as he was the right candidate to represent them, as they said that Masimolole did not deliver when they gave him a chance.He went on to be declared the winner as he pounded his opponents by amassing 4180 votes thanks to the coalition treaty. As if that was not enough, some residents backed Chillyboy Rakgare of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) who is also regarded as a child of the village as he went on to prove his worth by garnering 3846 votes ahead of veteran Masimolole who managed to convince 3787 voters. Currently, the landscape of politics has drastically changed in the village since the defection of Kgoroba to AP which does not form part of the UDC. Some political think-tanks have concluded that Kgoroba will lose support of the residents since he is no longer under the UDC. A UDC member who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that if Rakgare can stand in the constituency, the race will be against him and Mabaila since BCP has since joined the coalition for the UDC.
“This time around, the race will be against Mabaila and Rakgare in the event he is given a run. Residents will have it tough to choose their man since both candidates are dearly hugged in the constituency. Mabaila will have his fingers crossed for his donations to work wonders for him to land in parliament,” the source said. However, Kgoroba should not be ruled out because he wields power and has a following of his own in Mogoditshane, especially the youth whom he has helped in the past. “Whilst running his father’s Kays filling station in Mogoditshane, he made it a point to employ the children of the village as well as giving them jobs in his public transport business. In fact a good number of the youth who are drivers achieved their dreams through Kgoroba,” the source said. Since Mabaila arrived in the village, he has donated spectacles to the elderly as well as fenced their graveyards. Recently he promised to pave their dusty roads.