No plans to relocate expelled MPs - UDC

The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has refuted reports that it is planning to relocate the expelled Botswana Congress Party (BCP) legislators to favourable constituencies.

Last year at their National Annual Conference held at Mahalapye in July, the UDC affiliate, the BCP took a decision to expel its five defiant Members of Parliament (MPs) who were part of the UDC caucus that toppled former Leader of Opposition (LoO), Dumelang Saleshando and replaced him with Dithapelo Keorapetse. The members are Keorapetse, Onneetse Ramogapi, Never Tshabang, David Tshere and Kenny Kapinga who has since been readmitted into the BCP.

When expelling the MPs, the BCP indicated that it needed to strengthen its bases that had been destabilised by the elected representatives in the five constituencies being Okavango, Nkange, Selebi-Phikwe West, Palapye and Mahalapye West. Plans soon gained traction to replace the MPs with viable candidates and also make sure that the expelled MPs do not get any support from the constituencies. Following that, the BCP led by its president Saleshando held a rally in Keorapetse’s Selebi-Phikwe West constituency where different speakers took turns to discredit the expelled MP as unfit to continue leading the people of Selebi-Phikwe West.

Although Keorapetse revealed that he had no fear at the time, reports coming from the UDC indicated that the coalition plans to relocate some of the four MPs from their constituencies. The fear from the UDC is that when the BCP officially quits the opposition bloc, the expelled MPs will struggle to retain their constituencies come next year’s general election.

But Okavango MP Kapinga read the situation in his constituency and decided to seek readmission into the BCP. The former deputy commissioner of Botswana Police Service (BPS) and an envoy weighed his options and he was worried that he cannot make it to Parliament post the 2024 General Election in the Okavango constituency under the UDC ticket.

Okavango is a stronghold of the BCP and before Kapinga, it was once held by Bagalatia Arone from 2014-2019. Arone, who won Okavango under the BCP ticket in 2014, defected to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in 2016 only for the BCP to reclaim the constituency in the 2019 through Kapinga.

Contacted for comment, UDC spokesperson Moeti Mohwasa said there is no such plan to move the MPs to favourable constituencies. Mohwasa said the delimitation exercise, which will see constituencies increased, is the only thing that is holding them back from starting constituency allocation negotiations. “A lot of progress has been made in preparation for the constituency and ward allocations principles,” Mohwasa revealed.

The UDC currently has four member affiliates being the Botswana National Front (BNF), the Botswana People’s Party (BPP), the BCP and the newly joined Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF). All these are going to sit on the negotiating table where it will be decided who takes which constituency. The BCP, however, is expected to exit the coalition next month when its six-month ultimatum elapses. The BCP has already started alternate partnership talks with the Alliance for Progressives.