The dangers of tribal politics
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday January 16, 2023 06:00
At the nimble inception of the BPF, former president Ian Khama and also Bangwato Kgosi, there was a general belief that tribal politics will yield desired political results to oust the ruling party from the seat of power.
Khama was quick to seek empathy from his people after his unexpected fall out with his former ally, Mokgweetsi Masisi who is now the State President. At the Serowe showgrounds in 2019 where the anti-Masisi sentiments were spewed out, it was exciting to fathom how Bangwato would wield their influence across the country’s 57 constituencies to fullfill Khama’s desire to oust the BDP.
In his desperate need to oust the BDP, Khama never rested. In the process he seemingly neglected reality that he was constructing a harmful, divisive and tribalistic form of politics by calling for his tribesmen and women to rally behind him against his former party.
Fear quickly gripped the nation that Khama was set to derail and mislead Bangwato into venturing into tribal politics, which has proven elsewhere to be a bitter pill to swallow.
Batswana as a people know the dangers of tribalism as experiences from elsewhere, mainly outside our shores have aptly shown. Through intermarriages and others, Batswana have remained united even in the face of challenges. Leveraging political gains on tribal considerations has always been a risky undertaking.
Take for instance, the case of the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) that at some stage had national appeal until such a time that it found itself pushed by irresistible circumstances to a tight corner in the North East with merely a regional appeal. The party was associated with the dominant tribe in the North East.
To date, the BPP does not have a single legislator in Parliament with only a negligible number of civic leaders to its name.
When Khama wooed Bangwato to join him in his new political endeavours at the BPF, his tribesmen and women seemed to diametrically embrace the new direction he was charting. There were, however, some dissenting voices from the villagers who considered Khama’s tribal political support as a risky political adventure.
Khama would finally be granted his wish to lead a new party in the 2019 General Election as its Godfather and patron. The results reflected that the BPF disappointed its patron in its first attempt as it only managed to win three parliamentary seats out of a possible 19 in the Central District and 57 nationally. The BDP in 2019 on the other hand won 38 parliamentary seats or a popular vote of 53%.
The 19 CDC constituencies are Nata/Gweta, Nkange, Shashe West, Tonota, Bobirwa, Mmadinare, Selebi-Phikwe East, Selebi-Phikwe West, Sefhare-Ramokgonami, Lerala-Maunatlala, Palapye, Mahalapye-East, Mahalapye-West, Shoshong, Serowe South, Serowe North, Serowe West, Boteti East and Boteti West.
By any measure, the performance was poor, as it did not win the party the desired target of the seat of power. However, Khama and his BPF managed a good number of assists in a number of parliamentary seats that from independence were strongholds of the ruling BDP.
Areas like Shoshong, Mahalapye East and West, Palapye, Sefhare-Ramokgonami, Bobirwa, Nkange, Selebi-Phikwe East including Serowe East, West and Serowe South were strongholds of the BDP for a long time, which were won by the BPF and opposition coalition parties under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). The other danger is that ever since he left the country on a self-imposed exile, Khama has been detached from local active politics leaving those who followed him religiously in a confused state.
The BDP secretary-general, Kavis Kario, told Mmegi this week that his party will not give up on any constituency even those that are opposition held.
“Since independence we have consistently contested elections for all the parliamentary seats and wards,” explained Kario.
He acceded that as a party, the BDP lost Serowe constituencies and those in its environs, “because of a dynamic that applied at that moment. But, we did very well under the circumstances though.”
Kario was adamant that the BDP has started a process of rebuilding the party structures and from the secretariat. He has been addressing structures in Serowe to ensure the structures are properly revived. He promised that his party is going to fight very hard in Serowe, Palapye, Shoshong and others. He was also confident that their recovery fight would yield results.
As for tribal politics in Botswana, he conceded that there were isolated incidents where people followed their kgosi. He cited two cases in Kanye where kgosi Bathoen became active in politics and at Ngami where Kgosi Tawana was also into BDP politics. He would further indicate that as for Bathoen and Tawana they clearly and categorically left bogosi and joined their first love, politics.
“They didn’t want to confuse people and they had ably separated politics and bogosi,” he said. On the other hand, Kario noted that as for Khama, he used all means possible to render bogosi and politics inseparable as he had even sponsored T-shirts inscribed: “Eseng mo go kgosikgolo (Or hands off the paramount chief).”
The BPF president, Biggie Butale, explained this week that his party was formed by himself, Roseline Panzirah-Matshome and former president Khama and other leaders predominantly from the north of Botswana.
“I and other leaders also contributed to the success of the party growth in the north too. But this growth was not tribal but circumstantial,” explained Butale.
He indicated that the ruling BDP used to have its stronghold in the north of Botswana before such stronghold was supplanted by the BPF in 2019. This fact, he added, did not make the BDP a regional nor tribal party.
“The location of the power base of the BDP was due to its first president the late Sir Seretse Khama coming from the north. He was a national hero even before independence, hence, the dominance of the party he formed in the north,” added Butale.
He was adamant that there was unfortunate perception among some that the BPF is a regional party.
“We have tried to dispel this perception from the inception of the party by holding our first congress in Kanye amongst other conscious decisions,” and added that it is a fact that the BPF core support base is in the north of the country as, “I and some senior leaders are also from the north.” To him, this is just an historical coincidence.
In a scholarly journal paper entitled: “The Discourse of Tribalism in Botswana’s 2019 General Election” and authored by University of Botswana (UB) professors Christian Makgala, Andy Chebanne, Boga Manatsha and UB lecturer Leonard Sesa they have posited that Botswana is seen as ‘a success story’ and a ‘politically stable’ country in a gloomy continent hence some of its social ills are glossed over by analysts.
“Nonetheless, tribalism and ethnicity in Botswana are unlikely to reach the level of Rwanda or Burundi where deadly ethnic conflicts often recur. Commentators urge the Botswana political leaders and all stakeholders to ensure that tribal and ethnic tolerance are entrenched and consolidated,” reads the scholarly journal.
They further point out that Botswana’s democratic culture seem to function well compared to many other countries in Africa, hence the Rwandan scenario is unlikely to obtain.
They explained that the use of tribal and ethnic cards to attain political office in Botswana has not been successful, “unless it involves a chief, as in the case of Ian Khama. He, however, failed to achieve his main objective of ousting Masisi, but only won three seats in his tribal fortress, Serowe. “
They give credit to him for helping the UDC to win some seats in the Central District.
“Generally, voters are aware that the tribal card is counter-productive to the nation-building exercise. But sometimes tribal and ethnic loyalty seems to take precedence over national unity and cohesion. In almost every national election, political activists invariably try to play the tribal card,” they said.
However, in the case of Ian Khama, they added: “It seems he had banked on the fame his family name holds in the country, and a perception that the country is beholden to the Khamas, but like others exploiting tribal agenda in politics, his approach was not largely successful. This is despite having a family name that was/is a brand with a very long history and synonymous with political power and privilege in Botswana as well as cross-border moneyed connections in South Africa.”
Although Khama failed to oust Masisi and the BDP, the scholars acknowledges that his party, the BPF, won three seats in his home village, Serowe. This they feel shows that tribal loyalty, especially when a chief is involved in politics, can change the political landscape. The Serowe region had always been the stronghold of the BDP since 1962.
The SADC election observers noted the involvement of dikgosi in Botswana’s partisan politics and elections the scholars say has a negative development for the country.
“The SADC advised against dikgosi’s active participation in party politics and elections (SADC 2019). Progressive, as it is, this advice ignores the fact that since independence in 1966, Botswana’s ruling political elite has drastically curtailed the chiefs’ powers,” noted the scholars.
They added: “Thus, the chiefs now know that attaining political office gives one real political and economic power. The ruling party, the BDP, has, over the years, enjoyed massive support from the chiefs. It appears that the problem arises when the chiefs resign from their hereditary position to join opposition ranks.”