20 May 2018

Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has won the Moselewapula ward council bye-election in the Francistown West constituency defeating the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the Alliance for Progressives (AP) on May 19.

The ward, which was won by the BDP in 2014, fell vacant after the death of Councillor Lechedzani Mudenga early this year.

In a highly contested election, UDC garnered 317 votes against the BDP’s 285 while the newly formed AP trailed behind with 139 votes.  

There were four spoiled votes against the 742 voters who participated in the election.

The newly elected UDC councillor, Mr Rueben Ketlhoilwe said he saw it coming because residents of Moselewapula were not happy about many things.

He said he managed to beat his rivals because his message was clear, ‘taking the developments closer to the people’.

Mr Ketlhoilwe said his main assignment as the new councillor was to ensure that the ward got street lights and the development of a new market place as the ward does not have a shopping complex.

He said he would also make sure that internal roads in the ward were upgraded to bitumen standards as well as improving the living standard of young people currently faced with unemployment.

He appealed to fellow UDC members to work hand in hand with the party leadership to win the same ward in the coming 2019 general elections.

The BDP candidate, Mr Gilbert Boikhutso accepted the results, thanking Batswana in the ward to have shown interest in him though he lost the ward.

Mr Boikhutso appealed to fellow democrats to work overtime in order to capture the seat, which it won in large numbers in the 2014 general elections.

He however, promised that he would work hand in hand with the new area councillor so that he could deliver on his mandate in the coming nine months before the 2019 general elections.

The AP candidate, Mr Odireleng Ditshotlo was not available to share his comment with the media regarding the results.

Meanwhile, the election presiding officer, Ms Tebogo Hlabano explained that the election went peacefully because they did not encounter any problems.

She thanked residents of Moselewapula for having been cooperative during the process to exercise their constitutional rights.

In the 2014 general elections, BDP had won the ward with 663 votes, followed by Botswana Congress Party (BCP) with 337 votes while UDC had garnered 142 and an Independent candidate trailed behind with 120 votes. ENDS