BDP lands in the lion's den
Ryder Gabathuse | Tuesday August 19, 2025 14:57
Immediately, he was elected the sixth BDP president in Maun at the party’s elective congress recently, Mpho Balopi, whose fallout with former State and party president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, was legendary, conceded that reconciliation with Bangwato tribe and tribal leadership was a priority. Balopi and his BDP team know very well what they have brought themselves into, in their endeavours to make peace with Bangwato and their tribal leadership.
Khama and Bangwato in Serowe and surrounding villages have had incessant skirmishes with the government of the BDP, with the latter often unleashing the State machinery on the tribe. On several occasions, the government unleashed the feared Special Support Group (SSG) to bar the tribe from attending kgotla meetings in support of their chief and former president Ian Khama, who was on a self-imposed exile in South Africa with some of his family members.
Balopi and the new party leadership have endorsed the urgent need of the BDP to go to Serowe to apologise to Bangwato Kgosikgolo Khama and the tribe. The BDP under Masisi dug its own grave by neglecting a time bomb that they knew one day would blast under their care. The party’s former leadership stands purely to blame for the BDP’s fabled loss.
“...We will apologise to Batswana and Serowe residents together with Bogosi of that area,” Balopi emphasised at a recent press conference of the party held at Tsholetsa House.
There was a time, BDP spokesperson Banks Kentse dismissed reports that the BDP had removed its attention from Serowe constituencies and, by extension, some GammaNgwato-based constituencies. This was suicidal. Kentse was, however, adamant that the BDP had its recovery plan, which would help them recover what they had lost in the 2019 polls. Unfortunately, the worst would hit the BDP come the 2024 polls.
On the same token, Kavis Kario, the former BDP secretary-general, who was also adamant ahead of the last polls that his party was not resting on its laurels as it had worked on a strategy to recapture Serowe constituencies and by extension, spread its wings to vast Bangwato territory, a dream that was never achieved. Kario would later resign from his position when things did not work out as planned.
Balopi and the party secretary-general, Kentse Rammidi and the entire party leadership will have to prove their conflict resolution acumen to the world and what they are made of as they raid the lion’s den, Serowe, that has become their area of great interest. They surely have a mammoth task ahead to sell the once mighty red machine, the BDP to the hostile village.
To make matters worse, Masisi’s government blundered when it came up with an itinerary that ensured Masisi addressed meetings on the outskirts of Serowe and ignored the heart of the Central District, where a plot to remove the BDP from Serowe and GammaNgwato continued to be an issue.
Interestingly, it was the then vice president, Slumber Tsogwane, who entered Serowe on the occasion of condoling with a bereaved family.
This was not enough to convince Bangwato that the BDP was serious about its comeback. Perhaps, what broke the camel’s back was the technical ousting of former Serowe West MP Tshekedi Khama after he fled the country, joining his senior brother, former president Khama, who was on self-imposed exile. Tshekedi, his wife Thea and twin brother Anthony fled the country, fearing abuse by the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS). The BDP-dominated Parliament would later vote to remove Tshekedi from the House, forcing a by-election that filled the space.
During his tenure, the wrathful Masisi chose idiomatically to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The BDP by extension also became collateral damage, and now it’s payback time as those running the party office today have since realised that they cannot afford life without the GammaNgwato territory. The BDP leadership to some extent reflects the extent to which they condone tribal politics after Bangwato tribe withdrew their support from the BDP, collapsing the party’s nearly six decades of the BDP rule.
When the BPF, an offspring of the BDP, was formed just on the verge of the 2019 polls, Khama, who was the party’s inaugural patron, was intentional and had sworn that the BDP would be removed from power and that formed the basis for the formation of the BPF. At the time, Khama seethed with anger, wanting to see Masisi, whom he accused of political ‘bullying’, removed from power. Khama now has every reason to celebrate as his wish was finally granted. Painfully, the BDP was removed from almost six decades from the seat of power since independence from British rule in 1966.
In the 2024 General Election, the BDP won only four constituencies south of the Dibete cordon fence from the 38 constituencies that the party had garnered at the 2019 polls. ‘Fours’ has since become a moniker that fellow legislators whack the BDP four legislators with in Parliament.
At some stage, Balopi found himself compelled to resign from a Cabinet position as the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs. He couldn’t bear the pressure that was mounting from within. As an ambitious politician, the 56-year-old was at one stage accused of attempting to challenge the Vice President.
This upset Masisi as his right-hand man (Slumber Tsogwane) was being challenged, and a cat-and-mouse relationship between Masisi and Balopi commenced to the extent that their relationship broke down irretrievably. Balopi, at the time, was also under pressure from his close family members to bow out of a toxic relationship with his principals.
Balopi did not defend the position of secretary-general in which he was considered a top performer, having aided his party to victory in the competitive 2019 General Election.
The influence of a new political kid on the bloc, the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), reverberated across the Central District, an area conservatively loyal to Khama. It was felt in 2019 as the BPF had many assists that aided the UDC for the first time to oust the BDP from the conservative strongholds of Mahalapye-East and West.
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) also performed exceptionally well in the vast Central District, winning BDP’s traditional stronghold of Palapye and Tswapong South, taking advantage of a falling giant in the area.
Perhaps, frustrated by the goings on in the BDP, Balopi would later choose not to participate in BDP activities until he returned to challenge for the BDP top post recently. The BDP has been visible across the country on national activities, including agricultural shows, selling itself to the masses to make a strong comeback.
On paper, this decision by the new BDP leadership seems spot on and might somehow yield positive results for a party that is struggling to come to terms with its political losses. By hook or crook, the BDP is battling to clear the psychological scars from the 2024 loss.
The BDP under Balopi returns to Serowe when the UDC government has helped Khama return to his kgotla, where he is the Kgosdikgolo of Bangwato by birth, as his father was Bangwato chief before he anointed his senior son to the chieftainship.
For the BDP to win the hearts and minds of Bangwato again, it will be a tall order as during the period between 2019 and 2024, a lot of damage was done. While in politics there are no permanent enemies, the BDP would have to prove its mettle under the circumstances. Considering that the UDC government has not only embraced Khama’s wish to return to the tribal kgotla, he has widely been accorded the respect he deserves as a former president.
The cases that Khama faced against the State have been withdrawn, setting him a freeman. Khama was implicated in the controversial P100 billion theft case; he was also implicated in the alleged illegal weapons of war, and others.
The irony is that Serowe used to be the BDP’s conservative and untouchable stronghold before the arrival of the BPF, which surpassed the BDP seats in the 2024 polls by winning five seats compared to the BDP’s four. Perhaps, in an endeavour to show how remorseful the leadership is Rammidi is quoted by our sister publication, The Monitor: “ ...Upon reflection, we accept that it was wrong and regrettable for the BDP government of the time to deny Bangwato the use of their kgotla. We are thankful to Kgosikgolo Khama IV, his uncles, and the Bogosi for granting us an opportunity to render our apology.” Rammidi’s energy and gusto promise to bring the requisite renewal in the BDP.
Political scientist Professor Zibani Maundeni has said in a previous interview that the BDP’s comeback largely depends on how the ruling UDC will perform.
“The recovery of the BDP from this heavy electoral loss will not be easy and will be difficult. First, this will depend on the performance of the current regime.
If they can deliver services to the people, if they can revive the economy, if they can create jobs, if they improve working relations with trade unions, if the current regime can fight corruption, if they can revive the public service and restore confidence of Batswana, then it will be extremely difficult for the BDP to come back,” he had told Mmegi.
He had added that it would also depend on whether many Batswana who previously supported the BDP migrate and join the new government.
“It will be extremely difficult for the BDP to come back. It boils down to the performance of the UDC. If the UDC performs well, the BDP will be gone. Remember, we now have a new official opposition in the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
“If the BCP is able to hold the current regime accountable, if they show that they are a credible opposition or government in waiting, then there is no space for the BDP,” said Maundeni.
Former president Masisi is, however, hopeful that despite all the odds, the BDP would bounce back to its glory days. Giving a keynote address at the BDP’s 41st national congress in Maun, Masisi beamed with hope.
“Together, we have to rebuild, we have to renew and we have to rise. The journey ahead is bright, and with unity and determination, there is no limit to what we can achieve,” Masisi was quoted by Botswana Daily News. He also conceded that the 2024 results of the polls were disappointing but were far from signalling the end of the BDP. All eyes will be on the BDP as it finally freely descends on Serowe.