BCP's quintet: Who is their master?
Mompati Tlhankane | Monday July 18, 2022 06:00
The UDC legislators were divided over the caucus and this has since sparked a lot of chatter about who should be calling the shots between affiliated member parties of the UDC and the coalition itself.
The UDC is a tri-party coalition between the Botswana National Front (BNF), the Botswana People’s Party (BPP) and the BCP. Five defiant BCP Members of Parliament (MP) who were part of the UDC caucus that toppled the former Leader of Opposition (LOO) Dumelang Saleshando and replaced him with Dithapelo Keorapetse were suspended on Tuesday.
The members, who also include the newly appointed LOO Keorapetse, are Kenny Kapinga, Onneetse Ramogapi, Never Tshabang, and David Tshere. “The BCP Central Committee (CC) at its meeting held on July 12, 2022 took a decision to suspend you from the party with immediate effect pending disciplinary action. During the period of your suspension, you are barred from participating in any party activity of whatsoever nature.
You will be served with your charges and applicable timelines for your suspension in due course,” Keorapetse’s suspension letter reads. According to the BCP constitution, the CC has the power to expel a member from the party and also has the power to pardon a member whose expulsion has been recommended by the disciplinary committee. With the MPs now suspended, the BCP CC has the power to appoint a conflict resolution disciplinary committee, which shall have the power to caution, warn, suspend and expel a member from the party.
The five MPs defied a party directive not to participate in the caucus that was held on July 10 or any subsequent caucuses intended to deal with any matter affecting Saleshando until after the direction the party conference scheduled for July 15-18 would decide. As the BCP legislators who defied their party, they made up the greater part of the eight MPs who removed Saleshando from the LOO position.
And this is where it gets tricky, both the BCP National Executive Committee (NEC) and the UDC NEC have different powers over their members but the recent development has raised a lot of questions about the power structure at the UDC. In an interview with Mmegi this week, UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa indicated that the UDC NEC calls the shots when it comes to all the 14 UDC MPs in Parliament.
He clarified that contrary to reports that the UDC President Duma Boko is the one controlling the MPs, it is the NEC that does. “The MPs therefore fall directly under the control of the UDC NEC as the centre of power. They are obviously members of the respective UDC affiliates and the UDC itself. They serve in Parliament as UDC MPs. What is paramount is that by their parties joining the UDC, they contested and won the seats as UDC employees,” Mohwasa explained. He also said by joining the UDC, affiliates gave up some of their rights as much as they also gain certain privileges. “The UDC membership attracts benefits and obligations.
Representing it, in this case in Parliament will be the benefits while subjecting oneself to UDC control and discipline will be the obligations. Therefore, to suggest that MPs are not under the control of the UDC NEC is disingenuous,” Mohwasa concluded. When the UDC suspended their deputy vice president Saleshando and BCP secretary-general (SG) Kegoretetse Kekgonegile, Boko indicated that the UDC leadership has control over every member of the UDC. “We should all understand this and it should be straightforward.
In Parliament there is no BNF, BPP or BCP MP. All the legislators in parliament are UDC MPs. The same thing applies for councillors, they are all UDC members. All of them are members of the UDC collectively and individually. In 2019 during the general election, the ballot paper showed all the contesting political parties and UDC was among the names written on the ballot paper,” Boko further said.
Recently one of the suspended MPs Tshere said at a UDC rally that he has been accused of liking Boko more than Saleshando. “Saleshando is my president and I have worked with him since 2013 and I have never had a problem with him,” he said. Tshere revealed that he only had differences with Saleshando over some issues concerning the UDC because his (Tshere) stance cannot change when it comes to the People’s Project. As for Boko, Tshere said he cannot exactly say the BNF president is his friend but he is senior to him and his president at the UDC.
He admitted that he got close to Boko during the 2019 elections but that did not mean he favours one of them over the other. Efforts to get a comment from BCP spokesperson Mpho Pheko this week about the confusion of power between the BCP and UDC over legislators were futile as she did not respond to messages sent to her nor answer phone calls. But in a previous interview with this publication, Pheko said the BCP does expect its cadres, especially those in leadership, to be disciplined and to respect party decisions appropriately taken by the relevant structures.
She explained at the time that members who defy party decisions will be first counseled and advised to abide failing which, appropriate disciplinary structures will act as required. “No democratic party will take action against a cadre for following his or her conscience in what is a manifestly difficult decision,” she said. Speaking of difficult decisions, whether they chose to participate in the caucus or not, all of the 11 BCP MPs in Parliament were likely to attract a disciplinary action regardless of the decision they take. The other six BCP MPs who decided not to participate in the caucus out of the loyalty of their suspended president and SG are likely to attract a disciplinary action from the UDC NEC.
The five BCP legislators who did participate have already been suspended and now their future will be decided at the BCP national conference to be held in Mahalapye this coming holiday weekend. The national conference will confirm, amend, repudiate or revoke any decision made by any organ of the party and that includes the suspension of the five UDC MPs.
Even though they were in a somewhat difficult situation, the five MPs also knew the rules and were also obligated to their individual party. Article 7 of the BCP constitution outlines that members are obligated to execute the decisions taken by the party and its ancillary organs. They are expected to carry out the party objectives as defined in the constitution and a well as observe the disciplinary code of the party.
Members are also expected to desist from engaging in a course of conduct prejudicial or detrimental to the party and to protect the interests of the party at all times. Conversely, before the MPs' suspension, the BCP had been treading carefully concerning the said MPs and it is something that dates back to April's Bophirima ward by-election when the party decided to contest the ward in its own colours and symbols.
It is reported that post the by-election, the MPs did not agree with the party’s impending decision to pull out of the Umbrella coalition. Before the latest development, the BCP had refuted claims that it is plotting to oust some of its legislators who continue to defy its leadership and decisions.
The BCP said there was no plan by the party to expel any of its elected representatives. Now that Saleshando has been voted out as LOO, the MPs face expulsion from the party as the BCP prepares to leave the UDC after the weekend conference.
It is said the BCP has since grown tired of the legislators who are now labelled as sympathisers of Boko. What angers the BCP leadership most is that the MPs side with the very same Boko who suspended Saleshando and Kekgonegile from the UDC.