Botswana: Is Khama Plotting Against Seretse?
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
27 August 2008
Posted to the web 28 August 2008
Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Is President Ian Khama publicly backing cabinet minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, in the hotly contested Serowe South constituency?
This question has risen after the President's amazing tours of the constituency in the last three weeks in the company of the minister who is fighting hard to ward off the challenge of former area MP, Tebelelo Seretse in the ruling party primaries this weekend.
Information reaching Mmegi indicates that for the first time, the tradition of addressing meetings at the main Kgotla was broken as Khama and Venson-Moitoi targeted two wards in the Serowe South constituency. They also had time to dine with the pre-dominantly BDP gathering there. The Kgotla meetings were held at what are seen to be strategic wards for Seretse.
Khama visited Serowe South to launch houses for the needy about two weeks ago. He returned last Friday to help Venson-Moitoi launch 38 houses at Mabuo and Sehunou wards. The launches received wide coverage from state media namely Botswana television, Radio Botswana and Daily News. On Tuesday, the Daily News dedicated its front page to the latest event attended by Khama and Venson-Moitoi at Mabuo and Sehunou. The minister's Mmabesi Trust built the houses.
It is not only the President who has been a prominent visitor to the constituency. In the last two weeks, the Serowe South constituency has been visited by the Minister of Agriculture, Christiaan De Graaf and Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Peter Siele. The Minister of Wildlife, Environment and Tourism, Kitso Mokaila, is scheduled to visit the area today or tomorrow to address a Kgotla meeting with Venson-Moitoi.
De Graaf is said to have performed the handover ceremony of a dam at Mogatsa-poo ward in Serowe South, while Siele addressed meetings at all the eight Kgotlas that make up the Mokwena ward.
In the last BDP primaries, Seretse and Venson-Moitoi were separated by a small margin. It is widely believed that Seretse has been making inroads in the constituency, while her rival was missing in action due to a busy parliamentary session that only concluded last Friday.
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Seretse has been forceful in her attempts to reclaim the Serowe South seat. She sponsors the best Junior Secondary School Award in the area, has been active in charitable work helping the bereaved. She is associated with raising funds for Mogae's farewell party, as well as Serowe's centenary celebrations three years ago.
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Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
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