Rakgare loses grip of BDP Mogoditshane structures
Minister manages to bag support of two wards out of 10 Joins other ministers in Kweneng East region to lose control of structures
The Minister of Youth, Sport, Gender, and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare has become the latest casualty of ministers in the Botswana Democratic Party ( BDP) Kweneng East region to lose grip of the party structures in his constituency.
Rakgare is the Member of Parliament for Mogoditshane which held its Branch Congress this past weekend at Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School. Rakgare’s failure to have his preferred candidates comes after Minister of Defence and Security also MP for Gabane- Mankgodi Kagiso Mmusi and Assistant Minister for Education and Skills Development, Nnanaki Makwinja of Mmopane- Lentsweletau also failed to gain control of the structures from Ward to Branch level. Kweneng East region is made up of Mogoditshane, Gabane- Mankgodi, Thamaga- Kumakwane, and MmopaneLentsweletau constituencies. The BDP is currently reviving its structures and holding congresses in preparation for the Women’s and Youth Wing Congresses, the National Council, and the
National Congress this year. The BDP Mogoditshane Branch congress held on Saturday nearly turned chaotic after the two lobbies could not agree on who should conduct the elections. One lobby wanted the elections to be conducted by the party’s Political Education and Elections Committee ( PEEC), while the other rejected the suggestion, indicating that the regional committee should conduct the election as is the norm and the PEEC as a SubCommittee of the Central Committee can only be roped in if the regional committee led by Maj ( Rtd) Driver Motlokwa failed to conduct fair and credible elections. In a lobby led by Rakgare’s nemesis Percy Tshuba, the outgoing Branch Chairperson swept all the positions of the branch. The new chairperson is Onkabetse Zambo Mosarwe, Secretary- Aaron Radira, Treasurer- Rosemary Palalani, ViceChairperson- Oteng Mpudu, Vice Secretary Ata Moesi, and Vice- Treasurer Segomotso Gotcha. The committee also has 12 additional members. Rakgare’s loss at the Branch level comes after out of the 10 wards, only two that are said to be controlled by committee members sympathetic to him supported him. Tshuba and Rakgare have not been seeing eye- to- eye since the 2019 general election.
Tshuba who has been the branch chairman for the past four years was recently removed from his position and replaced by his deputy Mmolotsi Motlhagodi, a move which was allegedly sponsored by the MP and some in the branch committee.
This came after Rakgare and others were reported to the party office for having de- campaigned the party during the Ledumadumane East byelection which was won by the Umbrella for Democratic Change ( UDC).
Rakgare and his colleagues were allegedly reported by Tshuba’s supporters at the branch level after it was discovered that they did not participate in any of the party activities in the build- up to the by- election poll day. On the 24th of March 2022 Regional Chairperson Maj ( Rt) Motlokwa wrote to Mogoditshane Branch Secretary communicating the resolution of the region to reinstate Tshuba as Branch chairperson.
He stated that incidents which transpired in the Mogoditshane Branch include a meeting that was summoned by the secretary in the absence and or lack of the branch chairperson. This happened after a chaotic meeting convened by the region on the 20th of February 2022 to discuss the problems caused by the ‘ unconventional meeting, which was held particularly to oust Tshuba and replace him with Motlhagodi.’
The meeting did not bear fruits as tempers flared and some of the individuals left the meeting under the conviction that the meeting was null and void and held no weight.
Regional Chairman Maj Motlokwa told this publication at the end of the congress that he is happy that everything went according to plan. He said there is no how he could have allowed the PEEC members to conduct the elections because that would have been trampling upon the processes and Procedures and Constitution of the party.
“That is why I indicated to them that they can only be observers. I have conducted elections for Gabane- Mankgodi and Mmopane- Lentsweletau and there have not been any qualms.
“The procedure is that Wards conduct elections for Cells, Branches supervises for Wards and the Regions handle the branch congresses. I would have failed fellow democrats should I have allowed the process to be flouted.
“My assignment is to unite the BDP and not to divide democrats. As a principled leader I have to protect the interest of the party,” the regional chairman said.