{"id":11652,"date":"2022-08-10T15:16:28","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T15:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka"},"modified":"2022-08-10T16:33:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T16:33:51","slug":"udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka","title":{"rendered":"UDC distances itself from Matsheka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has distanced itself from playing any part in the recent detention of embattled MP for Lobatse, Dr Thapelo Matsheka.<\/b><\/p>\n

The opposition coalition has characterised what says are attempts to link it to the case as \u201celementary Directorate of Intelligence and Security propaganda and a smear campaign aimed at causing confusion and mistrust in the opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the UDC spokesman Moeti Mohwasa, contrary to allegations across social media platforms, no UDC leader visited or attempted to visit Matsheka in detention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is it that now that Dr Matsheka has been arrested, he is linked with the UDC?\u201d Mohwasa queried. \u201cDropping the name of the UDC in this whole saga is deliberate and is aimed at dragging us into the BDP mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Conversation<\/b><\/p>\n

He added that the BDP should \u201cdeal with their issues and leave us out\u201d and dismissed suggestions and that Matsheka could join the UDC. \u201cThere has not been any conversation between us and Matsheka about him joining us,\u201d he emphasised.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there had been any, would he have shown interest in running for the chairmanship of the BDP? This assertion is so empty and disjointed! It\u2019s a hard story to sell. The bluffers should try harder next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UDC spokesman turned on what he called intelligence operatives and their actions. \u201cWe would like to urge all those who are being used in such heinous and illicit propaganda to stop it before it catches up with them,\u201d Mohwasa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should learn from what happened to the disgraced apartheid era intelligence operatives. Those who are using them will not be there to defend them post-2024. We call upon security agencies to be professional and not to allow themselves to be used to spoil the name of the UDC to shore up the crumbling BDP.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that should an opportunity of a bye election present itself in Lobatse, the UDC would gladly take it as a bonus. Meanwhile, Matsheka has linked his arrest to BDP factions but says he will not resign from the party yet.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has distanced itself from playing any part in the recent detention of embattled MP for Lobatse, Dr Thapelo Matsheka. The opposition coalition has characterised what says are attempts to link it to the case as \u201celementary Directorate of Intelligence and Security propaganda and a smear campaign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":11651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,10,12,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-11652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-parties","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nUDC distances itself from Matsheka - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has distanced itself from playing any part in the recent detention of embatt ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UDC distances itself from Matsheka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has distanced itself from playing any part in the recent detention of embatt ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-10T15:16:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-10T16:33:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_10-62f3ddd609831.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"UDC distances itself from Matsheka\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-10T15:16:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-10T16:33:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka\"},\"wordCount\":363,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_10-62f3ddd609831.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"parties\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/udc-distances-itself-from-matsheka\",\"name\":\"UDC distances itself from Matsheka - 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