Former BPP president challenges BDP primaries results
Chakalisa Dube | Wednesday October 9, 2013 10:08
'The way the elections were conducted undermines the ideals of democracy which the BDP and Botswana are known for,' he fumed.
Marobela, Angelinah Sengalo and Kago Phofuetsile got the battering of their lives from Monarch South councillor Ignatius Moswaane, who garnered 1,039 votes, with his closest rival, Marobela, managing a paltry 387.
Phofuetsile and Sengalo could only muster 103 and 94 votes respectively at the lowly attended polls. Only 1,635 party members voted out of the 17,000 that were expected to vote. There were 12 spoiled votes.
The win means that Moswaane will represent the BDP at the upcoming Francistown Parliamentary by-election to be held this year at a date to be announced, to replace fallen MP, Tshelang Masisi.
Marobela said the majority of people did not vote because they had no membership cards.
In some cases, he said, those who were supposed to issue the cards to voters were not located.
'In some instances some cards were collected from as far away as Tati Siding and other areas that are not even adjacent to this constituency for reasons I do not know.
'I even tried to talk to the regional party leaders, but still nothing was done. Like any politician, I know that I can win or lose an election but I want fair play. Denying people the opportunity to vote by not issuing their cards is also tantamount to trampling on their rights,' Marobela said. However, Phofuetsile and Moswaane hugged each other and declared that they were content with the results.
Sengalo was unavailable to express her opinion when the results were announced on Saturday evening. In many parts of the six polling stations in Francistown West, hordes of BDP faithful who were hoping to cast their votes were turned away because they had no cards.
Some of those who voted reportedly received their cards late on election day. Yesterday when contacted for comment, BDP Secretary General Mpho Balopi said the party was unable to dispatch membership cards to some members owing to some factors.
'We have employed a new system of issuing cards and registering of voters for the primaries. The system was to be implemented at the national primaries next month.
'Because of the untimely death of Masisi, it had to be rushed into which to a great extent affected issuing of cards for the weekend primaries.
'The party only began issuing cards for the primaries on Wednesday because they were being processed using the new system which was a little bit late.
'That is why some members did not receive their voting cards. It is a problem that affected all candidates who took part at the weekend primaries,' said Balopi.
He also said that they were yet to receive a protest letter from Marobela.
'I am just from a central committee meeting and the individuals we delegated to coordinate the elections in Francistown have indicated that the polls were fair. For this reason, we have endorsed the weekend winner of the primaries and he will represent us at the by-election,' he said.
He, however, said that should Marobela launch a protest, the party would look at it (protest).