A cold wave has been blowing through gaMmangwato capital Serowe throughout the week as Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) prepared for the climax of the mother of all battles unravelling over the weekend.
Both parties are launching their parliamentary candidates for Serowe West constituency after the former MP Tshekedi Khama dumped the BDP to join Bangwato’s darling party BPF. He has since been replaced by Moemedi Dijeng.
Initially, the launches were going to clash on Saturday after BDP decided to launch Dijeng on the same day as BPF; however Tshekedi’s launch was postponed to Sunday the 13th October after the party claimed that they were experiencing logistical challenges.
Kgosikgolo die-hard followers believe the tour de force by the BDP is a calculated move to steal their limelight by staging a rally to sell the party to Bangwato and frustrate the Khama brothers. “BDP is going to bring people from all over the country and feature crowd-pulling artists so that it may appear as if BDP is still strong in Serowe, however voters will have the last straw at the polls on the 23rd of October,” said Joseph Lebo. He narrated how the BDP activists abuse them on the ground by making sure that they closely follow them making unnecessary noise during ‘Public Announcements’ meant to advertise their launch.
BDP was scheduled to stage an extravagant rally on Saturday where the party President, Mokgweetsi Masisi was expected to launch Dijeng. By Friday the BDP had already painted Serowe red after a massive give-away of CAVA goodies and paraphernalia throughout the week while on the other hand BPF is expected to use Kgosikgolo’s charm to draw multitudes to Tshekedi’s launch.
BDP Serowe West campaign activist Keoikantse Wamorena said his party has never been stronger in Serowe and they are expecting a whitewash during next week’s elections. He said their campaign has been smooth running and electorates are looking forward to Dijeng’s launch this weekend.
Preparations towards this weekend’s launches were intense with Serowe painted red while BPF embarked on a frenzied dash across the Central district with multiple rallies in an effort to draw multitudes to Tshekedi’s launch. It seems that people of Serowe are boarding with Kgosikgolo. It has become very competitive so much that BDP imitates every move BPF makes in Serowe. It is clear that Tshekedi’s defection has sent chills down BDP spine.
The jury is still out on who will take Serowe West after the BDP experienced low attendance at Serowe bus rank recently where they introduced Dijeng as Serowe West MP candidate.