BPP endorse Matebu for Kalakamati by-election

Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday September 6, 2016 15:25

The BPP, which is an affiliate of the Umbrella For Democratic Change (UDC), recently said it was toying around with the idea of choosing Matebu as its candidate.

Matebu lost the 2014 general election to the late Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) candidate Israel Samu who passed away recently.

Prior to losing the general election, Matebu had served two terms in a row as Kalakamati councillor. 

The BPP central committee met over the weekend to finalise a strategy for the by-election.  “The central committee has engaged various stakeholders including Matebu and it was agreed that he (Matebu) should be our candidate for the by-election.  “Matebu is an experienced politician and a well known figure in Kalakamiti which is why we believe he is the most suitable candidate,” BPP spokesperson Thabani Peter said yesterday.

The BPP leadership has also settled for Mbaakanyi Smarts as its campaign manager instead of veteran politician Richard Gudu.  The BPP initially chose Gudu as the man to help the party reclaim the ward from the BDP.

“We changed due to circumstances I cannot state in the media,” said Peter. However Mmegi has learnt that Gudu was dropped after some party members in ward hinted that Smarts is the suitable candidate to lead campaigns as he is well known in the area.  Benjamin Bagayi of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Bigani Kgomotso of the Botswana National Front and Towotini Manyepedza of the BMD will assist Smarts.

The BNF and BMD will assist the BPP by virtue of being partners in the UDC.

The BCP comes in as a result of a by-election Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it has signed with the UDC.

The by-election mandates the two partners to support the contesting party in case of a by-election. 

Meanwhile three of the five people who earier last week declared interest to challenge the BDP primaries have confirmed that they have pulled out of the race.  The withdrawal of the three, Jones Dubani, Shandukani Oitsile and Herbert Mathumo reportedly leaves Lempaletse Mbayi and Zibani Mbalambi as the only candidates for the party primaries.

Last week the BDP leadership advised those who want to contest the by-election to consider settling for a compromise candidate in order for the party to expedite preparations for the primaries.

Yesterday Zibani refused to field questions regarding his reported candidacy while Mbayi could not be reached.

The party secretary general Botsalo Ntuane who was said to be the one who can respond to Mmegi’s enquiries on the primaries had not responded to questions from this publication at the time of going to press.