BMD bloodbath still haunts AP

Spira Tlhankane | Monday July 28, 2025 10:50

After two then warring BMD factions, one led by Ndaba Gaolathe and Wynter Mmolotsi, and the other by Nehemiah Modubule and Gilbert Mangole, held separate congresses, the outfit eventfully split, leading to the formation of the AP.

‘We share a similar background,’ Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) secretary-general, Lawrence Ookeditse said as he reminded the AP about their troubled journey.

From there onwards, speakers took the microphone to remind the AP members that its journey was rough and full of obstacles.

Mmolotsi, who has been the party’s vice president since it was conceived many years ago, shone the Bobonong scars for all to see.

He highlighted that Bobonong was the most difficult in the political epoch.

“It was the most gruesome time, but you all stood for the party. It was tough, a person sending a dog and a stone to hurt another person. Dogs secured their congress,” Mmolotsi recalled.

He also said they were suspended by dissidents called Triple M. Mmolotsi/Gaolathe’s faction was fighting Modubule, Mangole, and Dr Tlamelo Mmatli's faction at the time.

Mmolotsi, who is now the Minister of Environment and Tourism, said after they left the BMD to form AP, they fought tooth and nail to ensure the survival of the new movement.

“We dedicate this congress to people who started this journey but are no longer with us, like the late Gomolemo Motswaledi,” he told the gathering.

Meanwhile, AP president, Gaolathe also took time to remind the party members about where they came from.

Gaolathe made a repetitive phrase, ‘We kept hope alive and hope kept us alive,’ as he emphasised that they never gave up even when people underestimated them.

He admitted that when they decamped and formed AP, the odds were against them.

“I remember in 2017 when we experienced upheavals, when there was strife and discord. I remember that time it seemed like there was confusion and like it was all lost. The cynics, the skeptics, nonbelievers said this was not possible.

“They said the new Botswana could not be possible; they said Motswaledi’s death was the end and that the dream had ended. But we kept hope alive and hope kept us alive,” Gaolathe recalled.

Gaolathe, who is now Botswana’s Vice President, said the skeptics said the party was dead and that it would not change the country.

Looking back at the BMD bloodbath that led to the formation of the AP, warring factions faced off each other at the main entrance of Matshekge Hill Secondary School in July 2017.

The Sidney Pilane faction hired security to block the gate while the Gaolathe camp brought its people to demand access to the congress venue. Following a standoff which involved dogs, security, and stones, the two factions brought parallel delegates and held separate elective congresses at Matshekge and Bobonong secondary schools respectively.

In their deliberations, both factions claimed legitimate ownership of the party and authority to hold the elective congress.

The Gaolathe/Mmolotsi faction started their congress by rescinding their expulsion, an action that was taken by the other faction.

Gaolathe was then re-elected party president while the vice presidency went to Mmolotsi. Major General Pius Mokgware has been elected party chairman while the secretary generalship went to Dr Phenyo Butale.

In Matshekge, the Triple M faction also elected their leadership where all positions were unopposed, and Advocate Pilane was elected party president.

Dr Mmatli was elected vice president while Modubule retained the party chairmanship with Mangole also retaining the secretary generalship.

The Gaolathe/Mmolotsi faction accused Modubule’s faction of wanting to stop regime change by the UDC in 2019. On the other hand, the Triple M faction indicated that they didn’t recognise Gaolathe’s team and that the latter should go and form their party.

Indeed, it didn’t take long for the Gaolathe faction to leave and eventually form the AP.