24 Nov 2019

Tumelo Koolekanye of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has won a four-man contest to win the Boseja/Flowertown council seat in the Mahalapye East Constituency on November 23. 

Mr Koolekanye defended his council seat by garnering 754 votes. 

Mr Khumo Ramagapu of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) followed with 391 votes, Mr Paul Mosimanegape of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) received 88 votes while Mr Roosevelt Kgosi of Alliance for Progressives (AP) got seven votes. 

Only four ballots were recorded as spoilt. 

On October 23, during the general elections, voting for council candidates in the ward was stopped a few hours after voting had commenced when the presiding officer for Boseja/ Flowertown ward was made aware of the fact that an AP symbol was missing on the ballot paper.

Upon realising the omission, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) acted swiftly and postponed the voting for council candidates to November 23.

According to the returning officer for Mahalapye East polling district, Mr Bakuedi Masole, 1 783 people in the Boseja/Flowertown ward were registered to vote, out of which 1 243 voted. 

Mr Masole had observed that the small number of spoilt ballots was a clear indication that those who took part in voting fully understood what they were supposed to do.

Meanwhile, the Mahalapye East Constituency parliamentary seat was won by Mr Yandani Boko of the UDC during the October 23 general elections. 

All in all, the UDC has won two council seats in the constituency, being Xhosa I and Mmaphashalala/Dovedale. 

The other three wards of Makwate/Taupye, Mookane and Boseja/Flowertown went to BDP, while BPF won Kudumatse/Mokoswane ward. Ends