BDP strong women and cabinet minister, Botlogile Tshireletso, has dared Duma Boko, President of the Botswana National Front (BNF), to challenge her as parliamentary contender for the Mahalapye East constituency.
Boko, who is from Mahalapye, runs a law practice in Gaborone.
Before the Umbrella negotiations took off, unconfirmed reports listed him as a possible contender for one of the two Mahalapye constituencies.
Tshireletso is aware of these reports and reckons battling for a constituency with a politician like Boko is what she needs as she runs for political office for the last time.
There is, however, widespread belief that Boko is not interested in standing for a parliamentary seat.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Tshereletso said that she wants to be pitted against a better candidate come 2014.
“I wish he could come to Mahalapye…it is a contest that I am yearning for,” said Tshireletso
She says she wonders why there is so much euphoria about the BNF leader when he is a nobody in Botswana politics.
“I don’t know his political activism. He has no mark or history in politics….I only know BNF stalwarts like the late Mareledi Giddie and Billy Makuku,” she said.
Tshireletso added that although contests with the BNF leader would be a contest for many to watch, the BNF politician is no threat and could never oust her from the Mahalapye East constituency.
“I noticed he is not a serious politician when it was revealed he has never voted in his life…,” she stated.
More revealing and amusing about Boko, she said, was the excuse being advanced for not voting.
She says at some point it was said that he did not vote because he had no national Identity card and later it was reported he did not vote because of the BNF’s instability.
“How can someone who claims to be a leader omit to vote?” asked Tshireletso.
She also complained that the BNF leader comes across as an angry young man whose line of politics uses ‘piercing’ and unpalatable words towards his opponents. She urged Boko to start addressing President Khama with respect.