Tswapong North
Tswapong North is a constituency in the Central District represented in the National Assembly of Botswana by Prince Maele, a UDC MP and current Minister of Higher Education since 2024.
Constituency profile
Situated in the southeast of the Central District of Botswana, the Tswapong North constituency was established in 1965 for the country's inaugural elections and is one of Botswana's longest extant constituencies.Reflecting the dominant Tswapong population which has largely assimilated with the Ngwato tribe, the constituency was historically a Botswana Democratic Party stronghold. From 1965 to 2014, the BDP consistently garnered an average of 80% of the vote. However, since the turn of the century, the BDP's dominance began to wane, with its vote share decreasing in each election since 1999. The constituency was subject to modest boundary changes and was briefly renamed to Lerala-Maunatlala in the run-up to the 2014 general election.
In 2019, echoing a broader trend within the district, a significant political realignment occurred as Ian Khama, paramount chief of the Ngwato tribe fell out with the incumbent president, Mokgweetsi Masisi and leader of the BDP. This political discord impacted the constituency's voting patterns. The 2019 election saw an 11 percentage point swing against the BDP, marking the first time the BDP failed to have a majority of the votes cast in the constituency. However, opposition parties split votes amongst themselves, allowing the BDP to eke out a victory. In the 2024 Botswana general election, the Umbrella for Democratic Change flipped it to the opposition column due to a steep collapse in the BDP vote, ending the party’s 58-year grip on the constituency.
The constituency, predominantly rural, encompasses the following villages:
- Lerala
- Lecheng
- Mokungwana
- Matlhakola
- Goo-Segkweng
- Gootau
- Manaledi
- Majwaneng
- Seolwane
- Kagodi
- Diloro
- Mogapinyana
- Ratholo
- Moeng
- Mosweu
- Mokokwana
- Maunatlala
- Lesenepole
- Moremi
- Malaka
- Maokatumo
- Tamasane
- Mogapi