28 Jun 2018

Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) continues to roll the ball in preparation for primary elections to be held on August 11.

Party members have thus been urged to work together to ensure that the party retain Mathathane Ward and the Bobonong Constituency. 

Mr Modiri Lucas, the party’s Political Education and Election Committee (PEEC) member, told democrats at a political rally in Mathathane recently, that he had been assigned to the constituency to verify party members that would take part in the August primary elections.

That, he said, was because they had realised some names were missing on the voters roll, hence they had extended registration to June 28 to cater for all. 

The party central committee, he said had also dispatched PEEC members, to help in the verification process in all the 38 constituencies holding primary elections.

On the other hand, the party welcomed 31 members from opposition parties during the political rally. 

To new members, Mr Lucas said they would be bona fide party members upon registration and thus encouraged them to work hard to ensure growth of the BDP.

Meanwhile, he told aspiring candidates for primary elections that the party was yet to issue the writ for campaigns, something he said would start upon completion of vetting candidates. 

Vetting, he said was done to ensure that the party selected strong party candidates with capacity to represent it well in the general elections. 

As such, he appealed to members to respect the party laws and regulations governing the primary elections, adding those that had submitted names should respect current seating parliamentarians and councillors. 

He said Membership cards should only be collected and signed for by owners.

Further, he advised members to participate in the general elections registration, which starts from September 3 to November 11. 

He also urged democrats to check their national identity cards for expiry dates to avoid being disqualified.

Nevertheless, Mr Lucas commended party stalwarts in the Bobonong Constituency for their recruitment drive which had registered over 11 000 members thus far, saying the constituency was one of those that had many members around the country. 

For his part, Bobonong Constituency branch chairman, Mr Fresh Ditirwa implored members to desist from fueling factionalism in the party, saying that had the potential to dwindle the party fortunes. ENDS