Ice cold scramble for the Central District
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday June 18, 2024 08:48
The takeover of some constituencies by the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) from the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in 2019 can be described by some as ‘ice cold’ with an emoji emphasis. Like Polaris over the North Pole, the BPF remains fixed on the Central region with essentially no movement despite the BDP’s promise of a brighter star in the region’s night-time sky.After enduring the BPF frostbite for five years, the BDP grabbed their red blanket and headed to Serowe and Palapye this past weekend hoping that the yellow ‘Ke nako’ permafrost has thawed just in time for the upcoming October polls.
But the BDP’s ‘Jeke’ literally met some cold front when the BPF counterattacked and showed the ruling outfit that what was done in 2019 is no milder form of cold injury. It was an intriguing sight as the BDP and BPF switched places on Saturday and Sunday to hold star rallies. By countering the BDP, the BPF wanted to make sure that the frostbite patron and former president Ian Khama left on the ruling party five years ago does not get better with rewarming. The BPF wanted the BDP to remain with that numbness and stiffness.
In what felt like the scramble for Central, the BDP sought to adjust their thermostat and bundled an extra layer, which could help brave the bone-chilling temps in an area which is influenced by tribal issues than real politics.
The BPF in their own territory boasted of better cold tolerance and as the BDP invaded their area, the BPF wanted temperatures dropped to an all-time low. The BPF wanted to make Palapye and Serowe a glacier too cold for the BDP to step on.
With the BDP rallies starting in the morning and the BPF holding theirs in the afternoon, the latter responded each time with snowy responses that made hunting for votes in the area more difficult. The BPF was solely banking on BDP’s limited adaptation to the 2019 cold, and needed the ruling party to go elsewhere warmer. The BDP had irked the BPF weeks earlier with a star rally in Mookane but this time around the Mephato Reatile-led outfit wanted an icy wind-chill, which could exacerbate heat loss from the BDP.
Conversely, in Palapye there was a wind-chill as the BDP leader, Mokgweetsi Masisi, stood before Palapye residents asking them to not make the same mistake by voting for the opposition. Masisi was also strategic as he mixed red with the snow-white support of the Bazezuru tribe, the people he had recruited officially during the BDP’s extra-ordinary congress in Palapye last year. By invading Palapye, Masisi and the BDP did not want to spend winter clustered under a blanket, and clasping a hot water bottle.
They did not want to dream of the scorching summer, but were convinced that they had brought sunshine with their programmes like Chema Chema and Thuo Letlotlo, amongst others. The BDP did not want to seem like they have given up on the Central District. Without a shelter in their former stronghold, the hope was for some miracle to happen in order to survive the tough conditions of the Central. By painting the Central red, the BDP wanted to taunt the BPF and other opposition in the area and show them that they too also have a cold-adapted physique. The BDP wasted no energy in shivering but directed their energy towards recovery and conquering the BPF dominated Central.
Speaking of domineering and conquering, in this scramble for the Central over the weekend, there was no signed agreements to partition the Central into spheres of influence, colonies and protectorates like the superpower did with Africa during the Berlin Conference. The BPF and the BDP were competing for the region, which ironically does not have abundant natural resource like Africa during the colonial era. For the BDP, it was time for the red movement to reclaim its sovereignty in an area they held from 1966-2019.
“A river is flooded by small streams. If you are serious about the vote you need the numbers. You look for people and they also look for you as they are attracted to what you do,” Masisi said as he explained the BDP’s quest for reclaiming Central again. He said the fact that people came in large numbers in Palapye shows that they are interested in the BDP. He said Palapye people astonished the BDP in 2019 no wonder they need the constituency back. Masisi emphasised that the people in Palapye are realising now that they have made a mistake by voting for the opposition. “You should regret this,” he said. He said the opposition’s ideas are very poor and that they are crawling like they did in 2019. “They will not come close to us because we are the mighty red machine which makes a stable and progressive government,” Masisi said.
Khama, over the weekend in Palapye, said the presence of the BDP and Masisi in their stronghold constituencies is a desperate move and shows panic from the latter. “Masisi by coming here believes that he has lost and he is desperate. We want Palapye to be clean and rinsed of the BDP,” he said. He accused the BDP of buying people to prove that they are recruiting from the BPF. In Serowe a day earlier, Khama warned the BPF members not to listen to the BDP. He said he was shocked that the same BDP which tried to ‘poison’ him are now in his area asking for votes. “As they come here asking for votes to become councillors and MPs, do not vote for them,” he told Serowe residents. He said the constituents should tell the BDP that they are part of a government which is not truthful. He said the BDP wants to use his father’s name to campaign no wonder an upcoming marathon will held under the Sir Seretse Khama banner. Khama says he still refers to the areas of Tswapong and Boteti as Central and no one will do anything to divide them.
Notably, the Alliance for Progressives (AP) was also in Palapye on Saturday for their leadership forum but the real fight for the Central was between the BDP and the BPF.