Dr. Matsheka had long planned to resign
Long lost love at the party forced him to take the decision Aspirations for Party chairmanship seat stirred the fallout Dr. Matsheka is still our MP- BDP Lobatse Constituency
Member of Parliament for Lobatse and former cabinet minister Dr. Thapelo Matsheka has had enough and has allegedly taken a decision to exit politics.
Dr. Matsheka who was arrested on Tuesday night this week is said to have hinted to his constituents that given the toxic relationship he has with the leadership of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party ( BDP) he has decided to resign as MP for Lobatse and exit the political space.
According to sources, Dr. Matsheka who has served as Finance Minister before being moved to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development was pounced by law enforcement agencies before he could hand his resignation.
Dr. Matsheka is said to have annoyed the powers that be when he expressed interest to contest for the party chairmanship. According to sources close to the developments Dr. Matsheka was expected to take current party chairman and vice president Slumber Tsogwane head- on at the National Elective Congress billed for end of this month in Tsabong.
The businessman- cum- politician is said to have been seen as a threat to the current chairman who will now face former MP, Nonofo Molefhi who has also decried sabotage in his campaign trail.
Dr. Matsheka is said to have had support of most of the backbench and some ministers who had fallen out of favour with the vice president.
Dr. Matsheka who had indicated his desire to challenge for the chairmanship of the BDP in early 2020 would later backtrack on the aspirations when things started to go south between him and the vice president as well as President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
An onslaught to discredit Dr. Matsheka is said to have started last year when he hinted his intention to resign. He is said to have been delayed to make the move when some fellow democrats pleaded with him not to do so given the situation that the party was in.
The internal differences which were said to be contributing to the party’s dismal performance in by elections were given as reasons to some of his colleagues to plead with him not to resign as his resignation would have been bad for the party’s image.
When the plan to discredit him started last year it was allegedly to threaten him from resigning, but his persistence triggered the current situation that he finds himself in.
It is alleged that there has been a deliberate plot to link the Lobatse MP to the disappearance and death of primary school pupil, six- year- old Tlotso Karema. Sources at the constituency revealed that the plan was to end Dr. Matsheka’s political career, as he continued to threaten to resign, an act seen to have the potential to expose the internal fights within the BDP.
Dr. Matsheka who was still held in custody by the law enforcement agencies at the time of writing, could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. Lobatse Constituency Secretary Kabo Hirschfield dismissed the claims of the pending resignation. He said Dr. Matsheka remains the area MP under the BDP.
“Dr. Thapelo Matsheka is a member of the BDP Lobatse Branch and MP for Lobatse. That’s the status quo,” Hirschfield said.