Botswana Congress Party Youth League (BCPYL) President Tumiso Chilyboy Rakgare claims that members of Botswana National Front youth voted for Botswana Congress Party (BCP) during the Bokone ward by-election over the weekend.
Botswana Congress Party’s Molefe Mosothwane won the ward with 453 votes, followed by Botswana Democratic Party’s (BDP)’s Lesego Matlapeng who garnered 404 votes and the Umbrella for Democratic Change’s (UDC) Boitumelo Sedumedi only managed 271 votes.
The seat fell vacant after UDC councillor Titus Kebuileng resigned his position as a councillor of the ward. This was after University of Botswana where he was also employed demanded him to choose between his job at the university and council.
Kebuileng chose the university job.
Rakgare told reporters on Monday that the BCP youth kick-started campaign for Bokone ward during the youth elective congress in Francistown.
“We did indicate that the immediate project that we are going to undertake is to ensure that the BCP win the Bokone ward by election,” he said.
He said during the campaign they met several Botswana National Front youth activists at Bokone ward who made promises that they will vote the BCP during the by elections.
He said BNF youth reasons were simple; “they are not happy with the conduct of the Botswana Movement for Democracy leaders and its members. They said the recent mess at the BMD youth congress had proven that the BMD still has a long way to go.”
The BCP youth wing strongly believes that some of the people who voted them are the members of the BNF.
“They made a promise to us that they would be voting Mosothwane; we believe that these youth members encouraged their friends, their families to vote for the BCP. To the BNF youth members we thank you,” said Rakgare.
This was a second by election that the BCP contested after the 2014 general elections and won.
“We contested in Moshopa West previously and we emerged victorious and now we have just won the Bokone ward in Mochudi. We have a 100 percent winning record so far,” he said.
Rakgare said the message that Batswana are sending is clear; “Batswana believe in this BCP project, they are now grasping the message on where the BCP want to take this country.”
According to Rakgare, the BCP youth shall continue to encourage young Batswana to take BCP membership in large numbers as we are the only hope to release Batswana from oppression by the BDP lead government.
Commenting on the same results, BDP’s chair of Communication Shaw Kgathi said “the landscape of politics is changing fast, one political blunder can mess the party and ruin its fortunes so is the UDC, they are in politics for money not sacrifice as politics dictates. The results are telling a big story. This is a beginning of a party in disarray and it marks its beginning and the end.”
