Former Botswana president Ian Khama late Sunday called on Batswana not to vote for the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) saying should his former party win the 23 October polls he and others would be thrown into jail.
The influential former President early this year decamped from the party his late father and former president Sir Seretse Khama founded in the 1960s citing differences over governance issues with his handpicked successor President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
The latter has since revealed that he refused to bend over backwards when his predecessor asked that he be allowed to remain the president of the BDP and the party’s chief campaigner in the 2019 general election after he stepped down in April last year.
Following this disagreement and other governance issues such as the sacking of influential head of intelligence Isaac Kgosi and reversal of some of Khama’s polices such as the lifting of the hunting ban and reduction of the alcohol levy, the ex president and his younger brother and former minister Tshekedi Khama have since switched sides and are now fighting from the opposition corner.
Khama who is a patron of the offshoot of the BDP called Botswana Patriotic Front late Sunday launched Tshekedi as the parliamentary candidate for Serowe constituency which is their home village.
“This is not the BDP that we used to know. If you vote BDP they are going to jail us so don’t even try to vote for it,” said Khama as he threw his weight behind opposition coalition, the Umbrella for Democratic Change led by Advocate Duma Boko.
Khama who was a fierce critic of opposition during his reign said “On the 24th of October we will be celebrating the ascendancy of Duma Boko to the presidency of Botswana.”
Khama who is also the paramount chief of one of the most influential tribes in the country, Bagammangwato told scores of prospective voters that the BDP which was founded by his father and had ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1966 was fading.
“The party of the founding father of the republic is no more. It is dead,” said Khama as he urged voters to cast votes where the BPF had not fielded candidates.
Serowe and surrounding villages in the central district of Botswana where Khama is an influential figure are expected to be the deciding factor in this year’s general elections because this is the traditional strong hold of the BDP.
KO/as/APA