Tsogwane, Digwa 15-year-old rivalry resumes
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday September 3, 2024 08:34
After skating on thin ice in the 2019 General Election when Digwa was breathing on his neck, Tsogwane, who has been in Parliament since 1999 will be looking forward to joining the selected few who have served the National Assembly for a whole generation (30 years). Tsogwane is, however, far from beating Daniel Kwelagobe’s record of 45 years as an MP. Digwa has been launched by the opposition outfit UDC once again to shutter Tsogwane’s presidential ambitions. Even though Tsogwane was unchallenged for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) primaries, Digwa is the last hurdle for his bid for a sixth straight legislative seat in Boteti West. Digwa has been Boteti West’s nearly man for years and once seemed on the cusp of defeating the area’s long-time MP. When Digwa led Tsogwane during the counting of votes in the 2019 General Election, the former came within a whisker of unseating the VP only to be beaten in the latter stages. After 2019, Digwa indicated that the loss will never thwart his ambitions and that he is willing to contest for the fourth time.
Tsogwane and Digwa’s rivalry started in the 2009 General Election and the latter’s launch in Boteti this past weekend has officially kick-started one of the remaining oldest political rivalries. For the better part of almost two decades, Tsogwane has always stood the tallest. When the Tsogwane-Digwa rivalry started in 2009, the Boteti constituency had long been divided into two being the North and South. Digwa began his quest to end the Tsogwane’s political career after just two terms in Parliament. Tsogwane then fended off Digwa’s competition in the 2009 General Election where he won 4, 790 votes to the latter’s 3, 748. Digwa did not give up but later returned in 2014 when he still lost to Tsogwane in what was a close one as Tsogwane won with a margin of just 241 votes. Tsogwane got 5, 790 votes while Digwa managed to get 5, 549. In his third trial at Tsogwane, Digwa almost took down a man who had been in Parliament for 20 years and had just been chosen as the VP a year before. Political analysts felt that Digwa’s chances of winning would be boosted by the support and endorsement of former president Ian Khama’s Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), a BDP splinter party.
Digwa held the lead for a very long time during counting but just when people were starting to write Tsogwane’s political obituary, the former teacher made a great comeback and eventually won with a margin of 293 votes. For the second time in a row, Digwa needed just less 300 people to beat Tsogwane. But he somehow ended up playing second fiddle. Digwa, whom people thought would never contest again after 2019, was launched as the UDC MP candidate in Boteti West this past weekend. He boldly stated that he would beat Tsogwane with a 1, 500 vote margin this time around. “I have traversed the constituency and realised that there are still no changes in the constituency population. I am even shocked where Tsogwane got his 2019 numbers. I am going to beat him with a 1, 500 vote margin come October,” he confidently expressed. In 2019 after the BDP won the elections, the UDC approached court challenging the outcome and filed 14 election petitions, which included Boteti West. Among the petitions, the UDC wanted the court to declare the Boteti West parliamentary seat that was won by Tsogwane vacant. However, the Court of Appeal (CoA) in January 2020 dismissed the petitions with costs citing lack of jurisdiction. Digwa has always been determined when it comes to contesting in Boteti West. Even after losing the 2019 election, Digwa said he was willing to contest for the fourth time. Over the weekend, Digwa said his wish for many years has always been to develop the constituency. He also said Boteti is a rich constituency which has been used to develop other areas including the capital city, Gaborone. “The intention is to develop Boteti and the people here no longer want the BDP,” he said.
When launching Digwa this past Saturday, UDC president Duma Boko, said at the end of this journey, Digwa is among those within the UDC who will ‘carry psychic scars and ontological bruises’. He said Digwa has dealt with all sorts of challenges. “If he were someone else he could have been bought by the BDP like some had done in the past,” he said. Boko, who contested the 2019 election outcome, said he is still convinced that the people of Boteti West voted Digwa as their preferred MP and that he was the rightful winner. Boko said in October, the alleged rigging that was done in 2019 will never repeat because Madibela Tlhopho will be there. But Tsogwane himself is a difficult opponent and is a man who has never lost any election. He enters this race as the BDP chairman and he knows that Digwa is an obstacle he should overcome if he is to one day take the State House. One is required to win a parliamentary seat to become VP and the Constitution does not allow Specially Elected MPs to be nominated for the VP position. Tsogwane has never been an easy pushover even in his early years as a politician.
He is the same man who defied political odds by beating the late political stalwart, Gabofele Masusu, who was the then incumbent MP at the BDP primaries in Boteti ahead of the 1999 General Election. Some people think that if the BDP wins the 2024 polls Tsogwane would be dumped as President Mokgweetsi Masisi picks another person as his VP. Tsogwane seems unbothered by these speculations and proclaimed kingmakers within the BDP and is currently plotting a path to the presidential seat in 2028 while shoring up his own re-election bid this year. Digwa who has faced the Leader of the House three times and came close knows that it would be peril to underestimate Tsogwane. As staunch BDP and BNF members respectively, their rivalry is not exactly internecine, but they will surely box each other in a hostile political ring of Boteti West.