Kgosipula is only regretting

| Tuesday August 7, 2007 00:00

He even went to the extent of alluding that the BCP is like someone carrying a messy baby on their back, and that very soon people will start shunning it. To put it in his own words, he said, 'tota BCP e tshwana fela le motho a belege ngwana a sa tlhakolwa, mme batho ba tsile go e shema.'

Was Kgosipula prophesying his own destiny unawares? The unfolding events point to the fact that the messy baby is now sitting right on Kgosipula's back and his party, the BNF, and the baby is in a very bad state indeed. Mmopane by-election result where Kgosipula and another defector Murray Dipate were in charge of the BNF campaign team clearly proves that people are shunning the BNF. People of Mmopane have rejected Kgosipula and the BNF. The man is badly emaciated politically to an extent that he no longer knows whether he is BCP or BNF. His recent showering of praises and accolades to a BCP candidate Phagenyane Phage, after winning the Mmopane ward, where the BNF also contested, shows that by being a political nomad, hopping from one party to another, back and forth, Kgosipula no longer knows where he belongs.

By praising Phagenyane, Kgosipula had forgotten that he (Kgosipula) is no longer a BCP member. This is self condemnation and regret. Can someone remind him where he belongs? The man is regretting because, the party (BCP) that he promised to destroy when he left it continues to frustrate him and make him eat humble pie. The BCP continues to win by-elections while his party, the BNF is finding it a tall order to fetch three digits votes in by-elections, even in areas where they used to be strong. The BCP does not only win by elections, but also registers growth in every area it contests. Mathangwane, Sefhophe, Ramotswa, Kobojango bear testimony to the fact that when we say the BCP is growing it is not wishful thinking. We are not just bragging.

Kgosipula has every reason to regret, especially after the Mmopane by-elections, because when he joined the BNF, he promised his new party that he was bringing the whole region of Kweneng with him unto the BNF side. But the truth has emerged because the opposite is the case. The BCP has won Mmopane, which is in Kweneng region, where Kgosipula is in charge of the campaign team. It might be said that the departure of Kgosipula was a blessing in disguise. It has opened doors for the BCP to grow, more especially in the Kweneng region, where he had entrenched his faction oriented and divisive influence. Some people were shunning us because of him. 

People need to be alerted that the opportunism of Kgosipula. It is not only noticed in his movement from one political party to another and moving from one constituency to another, but it is also seen in his movement from one BNF faction to another. He is very fluid. When he joined the BNF, he was aligned himself to the Dr Kathleen Letshabo's faction because it was in control of the party then. But when he realized that the faction did not stand a chance of winning against the Otsweletse Moupo's faction at the special congress in Molepolole, he switched sides immediately and now he operates from a different corner. Quite strange. His barometer is ever checking where the wind is blowing to. But sometimes if not always, his barometers mislead him, as seen with his departure from the BCP which he vilified and threatened with treason.

In his praise poem in Mmegi newspaper, Kgosipula attributes the BCP win to the caliber of its candidate Phagenyane Phage. Is Kgosipula saying the BNF candidate's was not up to scratch? And that is why it lost so dismally? It needs to be stated that Phagenyane did not contest as an independent candidate. He was contesting under the BCP, with the full backing and support of the party. He presented before the people of Mmopane BCP programmes and policies. We however agree with Kgosipula that the caliber of a candidate is paramount. We learnt that lesson after fielding Kgosipula twice in Mogoditshane and people rejected him just like they did in Mmopane because they could not trust him. In other words Kgosipula has cost us a seat in parliament because of his questionable character.

Kgosipula should be advised that no amount of propaganda is going to stop the BCP from achieving its mission. The BCP mission like I have said before is to take over power from the stubborn Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). The likes of Kgosipula need to be reminded that people are becoming wise and they will not be bought with cheap talk peddled by opportunists. When he left the BCP he said that he was leaving because the party was not serious about opposition unity talks. But what amuses is that he is still hanging with a party that has arrogantly undermined opposition unity talks, with impunity. In 2004, the BNF campaigned under the banner 'STOP VOTE SPLITTING' and it gained mileage from that. The party should expect a total reverse of the same, come 2009. After they decided to arrogantly walk out of the important opposition talks. Indeed Kgosipula will watch in despair as we bury his party come 2009.

Tabona Manje
Zwenshambe