PUSO not a new party – Modubule
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday March 5, 2024 13:24
The agenda of the day, as State President Minister Kabo Morwaeng convened the meeting, was political party funding, with parties set to share P34 million. PUSO, an old party founded by Modubule himself, aims to capitalise on this new development as the general election approaches.
Upon Modubule's introduction at the meeting hall, some unfamiliar with the party speculated that he represented 'puso' (as in government). However, Modubule, the only individual to have won a parliamentary seat as an independent candidate, clarified to the media after the conference that his party PUSO is not a new political entity.
“PUSO has been there but has been renewed. Many people know about it, and it has been in existence since 1993 and was registered in 1994,” he said. Discussing the funding allocated to political parties, Modubule expressed little surprise or excitement, asserting that the government's allocation of the budget to political funding was calculated based on the last election's outcome. “The BDP wants to fund itself towards these coming elections because the smaller parties will get little a share if any. The bulk of the money will be going to the same party; therefore, there will be no level playing ground,” he remarked.
Modubule suggested that the government is only convening the All Party Conference to seek recommendations for election commissioners. The last time the now-defunct PUSO made headlines was in 2008 when the Botswana National Front (BNF) southern regional committee suspended Modubule’s party from its group membership. This move came after Modubule and his party members were accused of attacking the BNF in the media. In response to these accusations, Modubule pulled PUSO out of the BNF after Otsweletse Moupo, the BNF president, called it a faction. Modubule stood as an independent candidate in the 2009 General Election.
After winning as an independent candidate, Modubule later joined the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) splinter party. In 2014, former minister Sadique Kebonang defeated Modubule in what was considered a David vs. Goliath battle.
Modubule had been the area MP since 1999, unseating then-incumbent Otlaadisa Koosaletse, who had defected from the BNF to form the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) in 1998. Modubule was deeply involved in the 2017 BMD conflicts alongside Sidney Pilane, leading to the BMD split and its subsequent expulsion from the opposition coalition, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). BMD faltered and performed poorly in the 2019 General Election. The chief architects of the Bobonong 2017 BMD saga left the party in Modubule’s hands, with former BMD secretary-general, Gilbert Mangole appointed High Commissioner of Botswana to India. BMD then president, Pilane, later announced in a letter in 2020 that he would step down and not defend his position at the next congress.