Moswaane, council candidates at loggerheads

The relationship between Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) MP for Francistown West, Ignatius Moswaane and his council candidates is said to have broken down irretrievably with less than two months left to the much anticipated October general elections.

All is not well within the BDP in Francistown West, one of the constituencies regarded as the strong hold for  the ruling party. In an interview with this publication, one of the BDP council candidates in the constituency who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of intimidation and victimization said Moswaane does not want to work with them anymore. He alleges that the controversial Moswaane prefers to work with Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) council candidates instead of BDP candidates. “We have learnt that Moswaane intends to defect to the BPF immediately after he is declared the winner at the upcoming general elections. A deal has been sealed that BPF should not field a parliamentary candidate in Francistown West so that Moswaane can jump ship in October and become the new political formation’s MP,” he divulged. The council candidate went on to say that Moswaane does not want to conduct house to house campaigns with them as council candidates but under normal circumstances a parliamentary candidate conducts his campaigns with all council candidates.

The sources further said with only few days left to their launch which is slated for August 17, they are yet to hold a political rally in the constituency to try and hype up the upcoming launch. “We don’t even engage in house to house campaigns with Moswaane and the mood is very low currently as many people are confused by the current state of affairs within the constituency. He goes around telling people that he respects former president Ian Khama and his chieftaincy,” he further held. According to the disgruntled council hopeful, during the recent party internal meeting which was meant to reconcile the warring factions in the constituency, Moswaane wanted his council candidates to be suspended from the party because the council candidates are taking him to task and always questions the decisions he takes without engaging them. “The current state of affairs in Francistown West might give opposition parties the ammunition to rustle the constituency from the ruling party, currently Alliance for Progressives (AP) parliamentary hopeful, Dira Moalosi is involved in rigorous house to house campaigns and electorates are receiving him well,” he revealed. The source further claims that the outspoken Moswaane does not want his primary elections challengers to hold positions within the party structure in the constituency which is a clear sign that there is no unity within the legislator and his challengers.

“It has been five years without holding an elective  branch congress in Francistown west, every time when we are supposed to elect the new committee, Moswaane ensures that the old committee is endorsed unopposed which is an undemocratic procedure. The current committee has over stayed,” the seemingly distraught council candidate said. He further pointed out that the party secretariat had given the constituency 6 000 campaign T-shirts but Moswaane has only declared 4 000 T-shirts and he therefore wondered where the 2 000 missing shirts were.

In response, Moswaane said he does not attend to cheap talk and he is working hard to ensure that President Mokgweetsi Masisi retains power after the October general elections. “My focus currently is to ensure that I win the constituency for the BDP.I am currently grooming my inexperienced council candidates to ensure that they emerge victorious at upcoming polls so I do not have time for a smear campaign against me,” he charged.  The outspoken politician reiterated that he remains a BDP member in good standing stating that those who spread the allegations that he is on the brink of defecting to the BPF are disingenuous. He added, “Those people should stop that rubbish because I am serious about retaining my seat.”