- Accuses fellow BDP members of political victimisation
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
Citing victimisation by fellow democrats, a Specially Nominated Councilor in Francistown, Gilbert Boikhutso, has dumped the Botswana Democratic Party and joined the opposition Botswana Peoples Party (BPP).
Confirming his defection to the BPP this week, Boikhutso said his decision was prompted by the political witch-hunting and backstabbing that he long suffered at the BDP.
“I can confirm that I have resigned from the BDP and joined the BPP,” he said. “I took this decision solely because I was abused verbally and emotionally by my party colleagues. Some were acting together with those aspiring to become councilors.
Disloyal
“Instead of competing fairly, they fought and ridiculed me and accused me of being disloyal to the party. Their shenanigans escalated to the extent of soiling my name to the party leadership.
“From what I have gathered, they did this in order to find something to use against me during the vetting process. In a nutshell, they wanted me to be blocked from running in primary elections.”
Boikhutso added that his two previous losses and in the Moselewapula by-election in 2018 and in the 2019 general elections were being held up as evidence that he is conniving with the opposition.
Constrained
“This political witch-hunt is not new,” he asserted. “It started in 2018 after I suffered defeat in the Moselewapula by-election. My loss in the 2019 general elections worsened my situation because my critics believe that I lost a winnable council ward.”
Reached for comment, the Chairman of BDP Francistown West Constituency, Albert Machabela, said he was constrained because his office had not received any letter of resignation from Councillor Boikhutso. “If indeed he has resigned from our party, he has not informed us,” he said.
“We only saw him in BPP regalia over the weekend, which prompted questions among ourselves in our WhatsApp group. As for political witch-hunting, we are not aware of anything like that because we never received any complaint from him.”