End of the road
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday April 25, 2022 06:00
From this week’s bare-knuckled interview with the fourth and longest-serving (2010-2022) BCP president, Saleshando, so far, to them the BCP story will not be shocking should they choose to bolt out of the tri-party coalition arrangement at a meeting scheduled for May 21, at a venue to be decided. He chronicles events that have created what he calls a ‘discomfort’ for the BCP to remain in a relationship that has become a far cry from what it was promised to be.
In particular, it is the relationship between the BCP and the Botswana National Front (BNF) that has thawed and seems destined to reverse all the gains of the UDC. There seems to be no trouble between the BCP and the other weaker partner, the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP). The BCP is a splinter party from the BNF after disagreements with the BNF’s founding father Kenneth Koma in 1998 over his leadership style.
“If the spirit from the impending May 21 meeting is, we have understood you and let’s sit around the table and chat the way forward, then let it be. But, if this matter is ignored as it has now become the norm, it will mean the end of the road,” thundered a visibly frustrated Saleshando who turns 51 years next September.
The BCP officially joined the opposition UDC in 2017 as an endeavour to enhance opposition chances of removing one of Africa’s longest-serving political parties, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from power in the 2019 general election and beyond. The BDP has been in power since 1966 and of course with a waning popular vote.
The BCP’s posture became even more visible during the campaigns for the vacant Bophirima ward by-election, which was won by the UDC that they (BCP) were not ready to bow out of the race.
“As a matter of fact, we concluded to register a protest through the Bophirima ward by contesting the by-election outside the UDC arrangement,” explained Saleshando, wondering: “Has Boko received and understood the protest?”
According to Saleshando, the BCP did walk away from many contested by-elections than anyone has ever done.
Acting Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) president, Caroline Lesang made a last-minute effort to intervene in the BCP/BNF candidacy dispute at the Bophirima ward. That was two days before the nomination day and the meeting failed because the Duma Boko-led team reportedly never entertained the BPF attempts at peace.
For the longest time, the BCP claims to have contended with internal democracy and governance issues, which Saleshando decried have been in short supply at the UDC led by Boko.
“Internal democracy at the UDC has been a far cry and without any internal processes to ensure that it (internal democracy) can grow and renew democratically. We lose the morality to hold the BDP to account democratically,” said the BCP president.
Flowing from the issue of internal democracy is the issue of governance. The BCP president further bemoaned that decision-making remains unilateral at the UDC as the preserve of Boko.
“For the BCP, it’s a no-no. We experienced a clash of cultures and for the years the BCP has been in existence, it has challenged the ruling BDP to account on the issue of governance. To us, issues of governance are actually our DNA and we are not ready to compromise on this one,” stressed Saleshando.
When the BCP joined the UDC there were certain commitments from both sides. Unfortunately, as articulated by the BCP leader, they would later learn that the UDC was running through a feudal system founded just on one leader. “The Boko-led UDC believes there is a natural UDC leader who is Boko and anyone who wants to propose leadership elections as democracy dictates, is actually offending,” he noted. He wondered where the UDC was transitioning to as it has been in a transition period since 2017. “How long would it last? We have even lost what we have promised the people in the name of social democracy. Grossly, we certainly don’t meet the standards of social democracy,” further decried Saleshando.
On fundamental differences and clashes of values, he was insistent that they could not ignore those things and think they can take care of themselves once they take over government. He said: “We can only do that at the peril of democracy and our progress as an entity.”
As opposed to the fears of the people, at a personal level, Saleshando gets along with Boko and indicated, “It’s a pleasure being around him. The only difference is when he (Boko) assumes the responsibility as the UDC president.”
The BCP has a leadership forum on May 14 and July is the party national conference where the people shall speak “if the situation doesn’t change”.
He added: “We did mention last year in Palapye that we were worried about the way things were going and that was the last time the UDC leadership met. We had exercised our discomfort and we wrote to the UDC and our letters were never even acknowledged.”