BPP gauges preparedness for 2024 polls
Through two regional congresses
The Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP) will hold two regional congresses in Francistown and Mochudi in that order.
“On Saturday this week, party members in the Northern Region will assemble at Aerodrome Primary School in Francistown while Saturday 7th October, party members from the Southern Region will assemble in Mochudi in the Kgatleng region.”
Back in the days, Kgatleng was a BPP stronghold. Insiders say the BPP has asked to be allocated one of the constituencies in the Kgatleng region hence the choice of Mochudi being the venue of the second party congress. The Secretary General is also a native of Mochudi.
In an interview with The Midweek Sun, deputy secretary general, Tiroeaone Ntsima confirmed the activities. According to the BPP official, the party has not held a congress or even a conference for some time now.
“It is on that background that the Central Committee (CC) resolved that we should hold the two meetings before the general elections. “We need to meet as a party before the general elections. The respective outings will allow us the opportunity to discuss the election and everything else related to it including strategising. This will include examining our preparedness for the elections. “The congresses will also receive reports from the party leadership including, for example, the allocation of constituencies and wards which is obviously of
great interest to us as UDC coalition partners,” Ntsima said.
The party is likely to receive reports on how the coalition talks are progressing.
“The party will know which wards and constituencies it has been allocated. Obviously, the information will inform our schedule for primary elections,” the party Deputy Secretary General explained.
Meanwhile, Ntsima is happy with their party membership of the UDC. “Although we have not won any parliamentary seats, as a UDC member, we won the Ramokgwebana ward bye-election in 2017 only to unfortunately lose it at the 2019 general election which was unfortunate.
“Since the 2019 general elections, we have been joined by high-profile individuals such as the Member of Parliament (MP), Ignatius Moswaane who brought with him two sitting councillors,” an upbeat Ntsima who believes his party is on the right track, applauded. “My prediction is that, come 2024, we will win parliamentary and council seats,” Ntsima, who himself defected from the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) to the BPP in 2021, said. The last time the BPP had an MP was in 1989 when Kenneth Nkhwa lost the then Tati west constituency, which he had won in 1965, it went to the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).
Philip Matante, the BPP president, who was also MP for Francistown, died in office in 1979. Meanwhile the 96 year-old Nkhwa, after who the Thapama Interchange (Spaghetti), was named is still alive.