05 Apr 2019

One of the candidates in the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) presidential race, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi has announced her withdrawal from the race.

"I will not be running. I will not be part of this," she told a press conference in Kang in the Kgalgadi District a while ago.

She alleged that the election was rigged from the beginning. Her withdrawal was also due to a High Court ruling in Gaborone yesterday.

She lost a case against her party on grounds that her contention was not urgent and was self-inflicted.

Dr Venson-Moitoi had sought that the scheduled elective congress be postponed as she was not entitled to contest for the party presidency as a result of the disqualification of 26 of her sponsors by BDP’s secretary general.

Her contention was that without the rules known to all candidates, the credibility of the poll would be compromised, resulting in the elections not being free, fair and credible.

On the other hand the High Court also agreed with BDP lawyers that Dr Venson-Moitoi had not proven if her Botswana citizenship was by birth or descent. ENDS