Chandapiwa Baputaki
13 November 2009
Twenty-five years ago, Botswana National Front (BNF) fancied its chances of taking over power as Kenneth Koma, Maitshwarelo Dabutha and a small group of politicians swept to Parliament in Gaborone in a wave that shocked the then hugely popular president Ketumile Masire.
Dabutha started as the sole BNF councillor in the city 1979 before entering Parliament in 1984. By then a majority of councillors in Gaborone were from BNF. For the next 25 years, Gaborone became the stronghold of the BNF. But things started going wrong slowly but surely in 1998 when a split in the BNF gave birth to the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). The BNF have never recovered fully from the trauma as squabbles mostly resulting from factionalism dodged the party to this day. As each year passed by, the parties' woes grew faster than a veldt-fire and many voters lost hope in the leadership.
Fast-forward to the 2009 elections and the BNF has gone back to where it started with one council seat in the Gaborone. It is also worth noting that the sole councillor of Bontleng Ward in Gaborone South, 33-year-old Olebogeng Kemelo won with a margin of one vote. He beat Matshidiso Moremedi of the Botswana Democratic Parry (BDP) by 425 votes to 424. "We came late to campaign due to everything that was happening within our party. Each vote mattered for us," he said yesterday at the council meeting that was electing the new mayor and the deputy.
Kemelo who has not left his job of being an ambulance driver at Princess Marina said that it is going to be a difficult task for him at the council. He is not even sure if he will lead the BNF to take over Gaborone within the five years like Dabutha. "It is going to be difficult as a lone councillor but I have taken a decision to join the BCP if there are issues that we need to caucus on. I will work very hard not only for the ward that voted for me but for all the wards in Gaborone. I will be the voice of BNF here for the next five years," he said.
The young councillor explained that he won because of his good relationship with people in the ward. It was not a party matter for him, but the way he interacted with the voters. "I have been involved in the Village Development Committees and volunteered for the crime prevention programme. I will work with the people just like I have been working with them before I became a councillor," he said.
He explained that his mission is to include the youth and the elders in his endeavors. He stated that he does not want to involve the youth in political campaigns only as others have done only to abandon them after elections.
He is aware that many elders do not attend political rallies and Kgotla meetings. "Just like we were going to their houses for our campaigns, I will continue to go to their houses to tell them about my initiatives and hear their ideas and implement them. I do not want to leave them out of my consultations only to seek their votes during elections. I want to work with them as we go towards the next elections," he said. He stated that he will soon quit his job as an ambulance driver. BDP has taken 22 council seats in Gaborone while BCP has seven.
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