In yet another ironic twist regarding an opposition party that is now the government, the Umbrella for Democratic Change finds itself having to run one arm of the government with personnel whose credibility it undermined over an extended period of time.
In late 2023, just as the election vigilantism of Madibelatlhopho was being formalised, the UDC, then in the opposition, sought to deploy members of this outfit to all election registration stations as election monitors. When the Independent Electoral Commission refused, the matter ended up at the High Court before Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe, who ruled in favour of the UDC. After the IEC successfully appealed the outcome at the Court of Appeal, the losers read malice in the judgement. Then Leader of the Opposition, Dithapelo Keorapetse, stated that the verdict didn’t come as a surprise because the ruling party (meaning the Botswana Democratic Party) had stacked the courts with judges who protected its interests.
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