The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) are expected to announce their merger before the end of January, source close to the talks have revealed. The merger will pave way for UDC+, which will take on the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), in the 2019 general elections. The talks started in 2015 after the opposition realised that they needed united front to wrestle power from the BDP as UDC performed well in 2014 general elections. The official launch of the merger is expected to be coincided with the launch of UDC candidate for Tlokweng constituency Kenneth Masego Segokgo, thus boosting his campaign. One of the highlights of the talks is the appointment of BCP President Dumelang Saleshando as the secretary general, the second most powerful position after the president in the UDC+ constitution. One of the issues that delayed the talks was the allocation of positions for the leadership and this is said to have been completed with Ndaba Gaolathe elevated to vice presidency. The position of vice president was not in the UDC constitution as secretary general was the running mate for the president as it happened in the 2014 elections when Gaolathe was Duma…