He surprised his colleagues when he pulled a shock announcement that he will be suspending campaign to take up a lucrative job in North America for a period of half a year. Masitara is believed to have touched a raw nerve when he urged council candidates in his constituency not to mention his name in their campaigns.
It was advice uncharacteristic of a BDP politician. Those who understand BDP politics say Ntime appear to understand the language of opposition politics more than many in the ruling party and should be thrown down the gauntlet. Ntime also comes with his own baggage. As an opposition politician, he failed to impress at the polls. He stood and lost election in Village and Gaborone Central ward twice. Be that as it may, he has been able to endear himself well to the Khamas.
That worked. Much like Khama, he rarely shaves his hair and idolises the president he grew up hating. He is relatively close to Khama and is said to be making some uncomfortable at Tsholetsa House. Masitara fell out of favour when he adopted a sniff-out-and-tell attitude towards corruption. In African politics, that was a recipe for obvious conflict.
Ponatshego Kedikilwe was energy minister when government lost out on a multibillion Pula Mmamabula energy deal and when Morupule B hired an incompetent contractor at a cost of P11 billion. Masitara has been summoned for condemning his corrupt colleagues in parliament and observers say he might be frustrated with BDP ineptitude and heading for exit.
But his strategy was far from perfect. At Galaletsang primary school last Sunday, he looked weak and tired. I was joking, I am not going anywhere. Leading the disappointment is specially nominated councillor and actor John Mokandla. In , Motlhagodi lost to Masitara with a margin of , garnering about 30 percent of the votes. Many fear that Motlhagodi may close the margin if Masitara continues to be inconsistent and provide conflicting political signals to voters.
