Inside the 'illegal' BPF meet
Innocent Selatlhwa | Wednesday July 5, 2023 06:00
Amongst those are that the current disciplinary committee was rearranged just after he was suspended by members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
An elective congress was also agreed on, something that was foregone by the then Butale-led faction of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) during a congress earlier this year.
Minutes prepared by the secretary for Student Affairs, Amogelang Mokwena read as: “In the absence of the President, the Vice President (Mephato Reatile) welcomed the NEC and recited a long-standing resolution that the NEC must and should convene every first Monday as tradition and practice.” “The VP further stated that he was delegated by the President to chair the meeting since the President will not be available to attend the meeting due to travel,” Mokwena wrote.
The meeting which led to Butale seeking intervention of the courts had agreed that drastic measures be put in place to punish gross indiscipline taking place in the party. “The meeting noted the acts of indiscipline by the party president, his violation of the NEC resolution to reinstate the Secretary-General (Tshekedi Khama) amongst others was discussed.
Correspondence of the party issues was seemingly issued by the president without consultation of the NEC first as per the BPF constitution. The NEC discussed this violation reciting matters like party structures not allowed to hold meetings which is a violation of the constitution,” he stated. The NEC was also of the view that at Serowe West, it was a common stance that the procedure was violated and announcements were made without consultation as per primary elections regulations on by-elections.
The NEC highlighted the office of the SG is occupied and the secretary for Education, Aphiri seems to be acting for the position with full knowledge and understanding that such an office has an office bearer. This, they stated, is a violation of the BPF constitution and that it has further compromised party unity. Mokwena stated that it was a unanimous consensus decision by the NEC to take action against Butale and Aphiri imposing a 90-day suspension pending a hearing.
According to the minutes, the next item would then be a review on the Disciplinary Committee (DC) and a co-option of Kadimo Oremeng was made. Letters of appointment to the DC were to be drafted for all members. “The NEC resolved to take a common position which values the constitution, intending to unite the party. Previous resolutions, strategies, and action plans were put forth and a trend of indiscipline was reflected on the part of the president, Butale and Reitumetse who have failed at many attempts to reconcile the party let alone to show efforts of unity.” Lazarus Lekgoanyana was appointed chairperson of the NEC and there was a co-option of Shadrack Baaitse as secretary of Sports and Culture.
Mokwena also noted that it was said at the meeting that many of the party members at Palapye had resigned and that one of the candidates in the by-election is from BPF and is said to have been campaigning using the BPF brand. “It was established that (Moiseraela) Goya as an NEC member has been part of the team campaigning with and for this candidate. This brought the name of the party into disrepute and NEC resolved to suspend Goya for 90 days pending hearing,” he stated. On the issue of the elective congress, the NEC considered the instabilities of the party and suggested the same should be held as soon as possible.