In a meeting that was addressed by party secretary general Mpho Balopi and his deputy on Sunday, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) councillors in Gaborone West North demanded that the party Central committee give them a new candidate for the constituency by Tuesday and set aside the area MP Robert Masitara as a candidate.
The malfunctioning branch committee in the constituency was also dissolved.
According to the area councillors who lost hope on the current Member of Parliament for the area, Robert Masitara, they cannot trust him after he made a statement that he was seeking a political break of six months to take a job in Canada, a statement that he later said was a mere joke. Masitara who was expected to be part of the Sunday meeting did not turn up for the meeting.
“The Sunday meeting was a follow up of the meetings that we had over the statements that were made by the area MP.
“Masitara was given an assignment to write a Press release to explain his statements. He was also expected to address the wards and apologise for his statements but he never did.
“That is the reason why we came to a conclusion as the councillors to demand the party Central Committee to give us a candidate that will represent the party in the general elections. Masitara is letting us down; he even decided not to attend the meeting. We also resolved to dissolve the Branch Committee because it is not functioning,” said one of the councillors who did not want to be mentioned.
The Telegraph is also reliably informed that Robert Molefhabangwe is on his way back to the Botswana National Front BNF.
A close friend of Molefhabangwe confirmed the news to this publication. Molefhabangwe refused to comment demanding that this publication reveal its sources to him.
Contacted to react to the Sunday meetings resolutions, Masitara hung up his phone and never took any call from this publication.
The party secretary general said there isn’t much to be confirmed to the public yet.
“We are still dealing with the matter internally,” he said. Balopi could not comment further.
Political analyst Lesole Machacha said the matter was sensitive. ┬á“Elections are just around the corner. A ruling party like the BDP with majority needs people who are patriotic in the party. BDP needs people who can represent them not people who put their interest first,” he said.
He added that if not addressed well the issue is going to affect the ruling BDP negatively because the electorates would think that their representatives are not standing in for them but for their own benefit. Masitara must know that he represent people.
“The leadership of the BDP must be worried and they must take action, the statements Masitara made put into question his commitment and loyalty to the party. What he did is not appropriate in the eyes of the party and in the eyes of the voters,” he added.
