Dikoloti Explains Why He Turned Down BPF 

  • Says he did not want to dislodge another candidate who had already done the groundwork
  • His removal from Cabinet means he relinquishes position of president of World Health Assembly

BONGANI MALUNGA 

Goodhope-Mmathethe parliamentary hopeful Dr Edwin Dikoloti turned down advances of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) because he did not want to hurt an existing candidate in the constituency, Dikoloti has said himself.

He says he was uncomfortable with replacing someone who had already earned the right to run for a parliamentary seat in the constituency because it is a situation that he can relate to.

When BPF president Mephato Reatile welcomed Ookeditse Malesu, Resego Thamage and Kemmonye Sekati as new members of the party on 24 September, he told the media that the BPF was interested in drafting Dikoloti as a member.

Independent candidate

Dikoloti would have been the latest politician to defect from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to its splinter party, but the BPF attempt was unsuccessful as Dikoloti opted to run as an independent candidate under the Wena Beula moniker.  

Dikoloti recently shared a statement in which he said the option to join an opposition party was on the table but he decided against it despite constituency elders advising him to consider taking that route.

“I have been advised to join one of the opposition parties by the constituency electorate before October 30 but here is my answer in brief,” he said in the statement.

Ordeal

“By the time the constituency electorate requested that I join any of the opposition parties on offer, they already had candidates in place. I wouldn’t want to put another Motswana through the ordeal I went through by denying them their right to represent their constituency.

“I believe it would have been unfair to displace someone who had already done the groundwork under the premise that I am the people’s preferred candidate over them.”

Following his resignation from the BDP, Dikoloti was dropped from Cabinet as the Minister of Health and was soon replaced by Sethomo Lelatisitswe.

As a result of his removal from the Cabinet, he has relinquished his position as president of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA). He was elected in May during the World Health Assembly held in Geneva, Switzerland.

The position is valid for a year until the next assembly and put Botswana at the forefront in issues of global health.

Valid for a year 

Dikoloti told The Botswana Gazette that the position is now vacant. “Yes, I am no longer president of the World Health Assembly because I am no longer Minister of Health,” he confirmed.

He added that he had five deputies in the WHA presidency and that the World Health Organisation will make a determination on which of his deputies will assume the position on an interim basis until the next assembly.