Billy withdraws Bulela Ditswe protest
Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday August 20, 2024 11:39
Billy lost the ruling party primaries to his political protégé and Francistown mayor, Godisang Radisigo, last month. Radisigo pulled a surprise, beating Billy by 1,238 votes to 1,131 votes. Billy, who is also the Assistant Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, immediately launched a protest challenging the results citing a litany of irregularities. Some of the aspiring councillors who lost the primaries and were aligned with Billy also formed part of the protest. The Monitor has since established that Billy has written to the party indicating that he is withdrawing his protest. “I, the undersigned, do hereby withdraw an appeal that I lodged against the outcome of the primary elections conducted by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) over the weekend of July 27, 2024,” reads parts of a letter reportedly authored by Billy withdrawing his appeal.
Billy wouldn't confirm nor deny that he has withdrawn his appeal but referred The Monitor to the party leadership. “What I can tell you is that I remain a true democrat, and I want to see the party retaining the constituency at the 2024 General Election. The most important thing is to ensure that the party does well at the general election,” he said. In his letter, Billy stated that he decided to withdraw his protest after extensive consultation with his family. However, sources have told The Monitor that key members in the party’s Francistown region played an important role in his decision to withdraw the protest. It remains unclear whether the primary election-losing councillors aligned with Billy have also withdrawn their appeals. BDP spokesperson, Kagelelo Kentse, wouldn't either confirm or deny that Billy has since written to the party withdrawing his appeal. “The party will issue a statement relating to the outcomes of appeals launched after the primaries.
“We will also make an announcement relating to withdrawals if there are those who have withdrawn their appeals. The announcement will come before the end of the week,” Kentse told The Monitor. In his protest letter, Billy said that some candidates accommodated election officers, which cast doubt on the election's credibility. The other main ground protest from Billy was that aspiring candidates linked to Radisigo engaged in vote buying and gross trafficking.