21 Feb 2019

 Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) remains steadfast in delivering its mandate to the nation, says the party’s spokesperson, Mr Moeti Mohwasa.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaborone on February 20, Mr Mohwasa said there were disturbing news regarding declaration of Gaborone Central candidate.

“The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) youth league released a statement endorsing Gaborone Central candidate and the Botswana National Front (BNF) did as well, but both were not confirmed by UDC,” he said. 

Mr Mohwasa nevertheless stated that they had actively pursued the matter internally and it solved. 

He further stated that the UDC National Executive Committee would make a final decision by February 28, on the matter after consideration of representations from the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Botswana National Front (BNF) constituency structures, adding that they would work with any consensus candidate in Gaborone Central and elsewhere for the benefit of the coalition movement. 

He said both BCP and BNF were committed to the UDC project and would respect the decisions reached with the input of all contracting parties. 

Mr Mohwasa urged the youth leagues to be fully committed to the UDC project and not to allow the conduct of some amongst them to betray or distract the project, especially by using social media platforms, saying that might confuse a lot of Batswana. 

He, nevertheless said the issue had been resolved and were moving forward, and therefore apologised to the nation for misinformation.

For his part, Gaborone mayor, Mr Kagiso Thutlwe also apologised to members of UDC, saying the youth league should have engaged internally in a respectful manner that showed camaraderie and infra-UDC party democracy.

Mr Thutlwe said they would cooperate with any candidate that would be endorsed and would actively campaign for them to be voted.ENDS