The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) dithering over a decision to take disciplinary action against party parliamentary candidate for Tlokweng Elijah Katse because the party leadership is failing to build its case.
Katse wrote a letter to the party demanding evidence that he rigged primary elections. This was after the party demanded that Katse should write a letter to show cause why he should not be recalled or reported to the police. Information passed to the Sunday Standard indicates that the BDP is caught between a rock and hard place after Katse demanded that the party should produce proof as to how he could have tempered with the voters’ roll in the custody of the party’s secretariat. Sources inside the party say Katse is taking the fight to his accusers.
“It is against this backdrop that he also demands that the BDP should also provide evidence that he tempered with the names of 400 voters. He also demands answers from the party as to how he could have tempered with voters roll as he is not working at Tsholetsa (BDP secretariat),” sources said. Sources added that “Remember that Katse and four members of his team were given until May 19 to show cause why action should not be taken against them. But it has been two months after he responded to their letter and demanded evidence as to how he could have tempered with a voters’ roll since it is not in his custody. That statement on its own is giving the party a hard time because even they (members of the central committee) are also baffled as to how they should justify recalling him.”
According to sources, should the party recall Katse, he is likely “The matter is likely to shift to Tsholetsa house because the question that the committee now finds itself battling with is; who could have tempered with the names of the voters roll at the party’s office?” one of the sources said.
The BDP accuses Katse and his team of unlawfully tampering with the party’s official voters’ roll by removing approximately 400 names of suspected supporters of former Botswana National Front vice president and MP, assistant minister Olebile Gaborone who was defeated by Katse in the December primaries. The party further alleges that the conspirators trafficked a number of voters from Limkokwing University into the constituency in order to prop-up their support base.
An investigation committee set up by the party’s central committee “found that Katse, and the aforementioned were guilty of committing various acts aimed at compromising the conduct of the 2013 primary elections in Tlokweng constituency.”
