‘BDP courts prominent attorney’
Lebogang Mosikare | Monday February 13, 2023 06:00
According to reliable BDP sources, the party is eyeing attorney Kagiso Jani, a managing partner at Tshekiso, Ditiro and Jani Legal Practice.
The constituency is currently in the hands of opposition legislator, Ignatius Moswaane, following his defection from the BDP to the Botswana People’s Party (BPP), which is affiliated to the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
Moswaane defected from the BDP in 2021 after he accused it of misrule and encouraging corruption. According to BDP insiders, the move is likely to cause some discontent in Francistown West among other cadres who are also reportedly eyeing the constituency.
People familiar with the matter added that the BDP in the Francistown region is proposing that Jani should represent it in the 2024 General Election as a consensus candidate - a move that may further cause massive rifts within the constituency.
It is well documented that the BDP primary elections dubbed “Bulela Ditswe” in the vernacular always cause rifts within the party and any plan to abandon them will bring more damage to the party.
In the past, some former BDP activists contested the general elections as independent candidates after they lost the primary elections. Many of them cried foul saying that the elections were not free and fair hence their decision to stand as independent candidates.
The issue of Jani is a potential minefield, which can lead to a toxic atmosphere that could affect the BDP’s prospects during the 2024 polls. There are unconfirmed reports that Gregory Kealotswe and Raoboy Mpuang, who were vanquished by Moswaane in the BDP primary elections prior to the 2019 General Election, are also planning to try their luck again.
Kealotswe hosted a football tournament in Monarch last year. This has fuelled speculation that he was using the tournament to endear himself to voters in Monarch, a vast area in Francistown West, which has two wards (Monarch North and South). To put the Kealotswe matter in its proper perspective, although the BDP has not opened the Bulela Ditswe season, he is optimistic that he will snatch Francistown West from Moswaane.
This week, Kealotswe told a weekly newspaper, The Midweek Sun, that should he prevail in the BDP primary elections, he would defeat Moswaane in the 2024 general Election. Political observers are of the view that the concept of intraparty democracy centres on the idea of including party members in intraparty deliberations and decision-making processes hence the BDP should tread carefully on the Jani issue.
According to an academic research paper by Dr Zein Kebonang, who is now a judge of the High Court in Botswana, and Wankie Rodrick Wankie, formerly a lecturer in the Department of Law at the University of Botswana (UB), a party can hardly be classified as democratic if its organisational structure lacks mechanisms for civic participation and influence. “Enlisting the participation of supporters in selecting party leaders is therefore, crucial to giving greater impetus to a party’s internal democratic processes.
Candidate selection is an important activity in the life of any political party. It is the primary screening device in the process through which the party in public office is reproduced,” says the paper.
When contacted for comment regarding the Francistown West issue, Jani stated that nobody from the BDP has approached him about representing it in the 2024 General Election in Francistown West. He also said the BDP has not opened its primary elections cycle hence he was not approached by anyone from the BDP. Asked what he will do if the BDP approaches him in future when the BDP declares that its cadres are free to openly express their interest to compete in primary elections, Jani replied: “I will carefully reflect on the matter.”
But the chairperson of the BDP in the Francistown region, Baemedi Medupi denies that the BDP is rooting for Jani in Francistown West. Medupi, who was recently elected as the deputy chairperson of the Central District Council (CDC), also denied that the BDP will abandon primary elections in the constituency in favour of Jani. “The BDP is not recruiting Jani to represent it in Francistown West.
It is my first time to hear that,” said Medupi. Meanwhile, Jani’s profile has been growing. Like many seasoned politicians in Botswana such as the president of Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Dumelang Saleshando, current Leader of Opposition (LoO), Dithapelo Keorapetse, former BDP secretary-general, Botsalo Ntuane, and others, Jani cut his teeth in politics at UB.
In 2005 and 2006, he was part of the BDP GS26 at UB who was contesting to become the institution’s justice minister. In November 2022, Jani was part of the delegation of the organisation for Youth and Elections in Botswana (OYEBO) that went to the United States of America (US) for training sessions, campaign observation and observing the US mid-term elections. Jani is also a member of the BDP electoral board in addition to being the chairperson of the BDP disciplinary committee in the Francistown region.