BPF seeks to rebuild after internal turmoil
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday September 19, 2023 06:00
This turmoil began with the suspension of the founding president, Biggie Butale, due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Subsequently, the party descended into deep factionalism within the National Executive Committee (NEC), with members coming and going, causing further disarray.
This internal strife escalated to suspensions, court battles, and even convictions for contempt of court. The courtroom battles ultimately culminated in the expulsion of Butale.
Nevertheless, Butale remains resolute in his pursuit of regaining the presidency through a judicial review application regarding Justice Zein Kebonang's consequential judgment.
Over the weekend, the party held an extraordinary elective congress, during which their president, Mephato Reatile, urged members to put the recent turbulent events behind them and seek reconciliation.
Reatile praised the party's organisational structures for their role in stabilising the party. “As BPF members, you should thank your structures for they are in place and they helped us get the party back on track. We thank particularly the Youth League, for following the constitution and saving our party. We had a president who was a dictator and did not want to lead with others,” he said.
“He took decisions by himself and also wanted to run the party through court orders. We even tried mediation by arranging for a meeting with him and patron Ian Khama, but he did not show up. We got convinced he was out to destroy our party. Unfortunately for him, our constitution had remedies.” Reatile called on the party members to ensure that they have functional structures in their areas which will be able to overlook primary elections and also ensure that the party constitution is followed. He said it is only structures and the constitution that run the party and not individuals who might have bad intentions.
He reiterated that the BPF as a democratic organisation would hold primary elections in due course. The Jwaneng-Mabutsane legislator also slammed Butale for backtracking on joining the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). “A congress Butale led had resolved that the BPF would join the UDC. Butale on his own later wanted to reverse that without a congress and call for a PACT.
That was not right, it is for this congress to decide so, but I believe we all know that we are best positioned to take power by working with other parties under the UDC,” he said. Reatile assured BPF members that the party would not lose its identity even if they were to join UDC. He said they just needed to have functional structures across the country to ensure they stay visible.