BPF’s headache
SHARON MATHALA | Friday October 7, 2022 16:47
The Lobatse High Court will today preside over the urgent application brought by the acting president of the controversy stricken, the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), Caroline Lesang. During the course of the week, the BPF has been embroiled in a tug of war as division amongst the national executive committee (NEC) members reached a boiling point. Power struggles and control of the ‘yellow party’ took centre stage when Biggie Butale returned to his ‘throne’ and ‘dethroned’ some BPF big wigs. In his first meeting back into the NEC, Butale reversed major decisions and led the NEC that suspended presidential hopeful Samson Moyo Guma, BPF spokesperson Lawrence Ookeditse and Ford Moitela. At the same meeting, the Butale-led NEC postponed the elective congress, which was slated for next month. Before the ink could dry on their suspension, Lesang rushed to court for relief. In court papers seen by Mmegi, Lesang has asked the court to make an interim order to interdict Butale from convening, arranging, staging, chairing or presiding over any meeting of the NEC of the BPF and or any affiliates, organs or structures of the BPF. Lesang also wants the court to stop the second respondent, Tshekedi Khama, from issuing any notices of meetings or facilitating any meetings of the NEC on behalf of Butale. She is also pleading with the court to stop Butale from presenting himself as the BPF president and “to declare meetings so convened by the first respondent during the period of this suspension (previous and prospective) as null and void and of no force and effect. To declare the meetings so convened by the first Respondent to be unlawful as per the party’s regulations.” Giving background of the matter, Lesang said sometime around September 2021, Butale was suspended as the BPF party president and a member of the BPF in light of allegations of sexual misconduct and bringing the name of the party into disrepute and encouraging members of the party to desert the party. “The effect of the suspension was that the first respondent was to step down from the BPF presidency and from the membership of the party pending a disciplinary hearing into the matters that led to his suspension. Subsequent to that, the first respondent accepted the suspension and did not carry out any duties of the presidency nor the duties of ordinary members of the party,” Lesang tells the court. She went further to state: “Sometime around the 27th of July 2022 the Disciplinary Committee of the BPF made a decision to lift the suspension of the first respondent’s ordinary membership, but retain his suspension from discharging any duties/functions of the presidency of the BPF since the matters that had led to the suspension had not been resolved and are still pending before the Disciplinary Committee. That since his misconduct and putting the name of the party into disrepute, matter(s) still pending before the Disciplinary Committee and therefore, cannot reinstate the first respondent to the presidency but can be reinstated to be an ordinary member of the party.” But said to their surprise shortly after, Butale held a press conference to announce his return to his seat. “This is regardless of the fact that there was no reinstatement or formal endorsement back into the presidency of the first respondent by the Disciplinary Committee, the NEC, national congress or the courts for that matter to reinstate him as the party president. The first respondent has proceeded to convene meetings of the party, public addresses as well as press conferences contrary to the terms and conditions of his suspension from the presidency of the party.” Lesang tells court that should it not interdict Butale from calling the meetings, the BPF will be the biggest loser and will suffer irreparable harm because, as it stands, congress is scheduled for October 28-30, 2022. “First respondent is bringing major disrepute to the party by issuing statements that would be seen to either confuse the party delegates in regards to the convening of congress and or seeming to cancel congress until further notice,” she argues. Giving reasons why the scheduled congress should go on as planned, Lesang says: “It is imperative for congress to sit on the scheduled dates because should congress not sit, this will disrupt the strategic planning of the party towards preparation for the 2024 General Election. If not interdicted, the first respondent will bring confusion and irreparable harm to the party and its progress.” Commenting on the issue in an interview with Mmegi, Butale said he was welcomed back into the NEC and he is duly exercising his mandate as the party president. He also said there was a NEC meeting, which ruled that he should be reinstated back as president. Asked to comment on the decisions he made in his first day at the office Butale said: “We just had a small number of people who are causing instability and I think we have dealt with them. I didn’t suspend Guma as the presidential candidate but he was suspended by the NEC. The decisions the NEC took were to try and stabilise the party. The DC lifted my suspension but they didn’t have the powers to interdict me. Going forward we should be able to take the party back to its glory days.” On the decision to postpone the elective congress he said: “We postponed the congress because the Women’s League and Youth League must hold congresses before the main congress. They shall do so because they are automatic delegates. The current Youth and Women’s Leagues’ mandate has expired. Also we have to hold the national conference before the congress. This will be the first national conference and all of these need to be done before the elective congress and looking at the time frame we won’t be able to, hence why the decision to postpone elections until next year.”