BPF should get house in order

Mmegi Editor | Monday March 30, 2026 09:52

Speaker of the National Assembly, Dithapelo Keorapetse, has this week rightly washed his hands of the mess, refusing to wade into a party squabble that has no clear leadership and no single version of the truth.

When a single party sends six different letters to the Speaker’s office, each claiming to be the authoritative voice, it is not just confusion, but an embarrassment.

Keorapetse is correct to insist on institutional boundaries. Parliament cannot be expected to referee a fight when the combatants cannot even agree on who is on which side.

For too long, the party has been defined by the shadow of its founder, Ian Khama. With suggestions that he might have resigned from the party altogether, the BPF now faces a moment of truth.

It can either descend further into internal warfare, tearing itself apart in public view, or it can finally prove that it is a serious political organisation capable of standing on its own two feet.

As Professor Tachilisa Balule points out elsewhere in this publication, this mess will likely require a court to untangle. Expelled Members of Parliament do not automatically lose their seats, but become independents.

Resignations create vacancies. These are matters for the Judiciary, not for the Speaker’s office. But while the lawyers argue and the courts deliberate, the country is watching.

To the faction leaders within the BPF, Lawrence Ookeditse and Gaolathe Galebotswe, we urge you to rise above the occasion.

You are doing your party, supporters as well as those who voted for you a grave disservice by airing your dirty laundry in such a chaotic manner.

Those who voted for BPF candidates deserve better than this spectacle of infighting and contradictory letters.

It is simple. Prove that the BPF can be a party without Khama. Prove that you have the maturity to resolve disputes through dialogue and internal structures rather than running to Parliament or the courts at every turn.

Political leadership is not about claiming the loudest voice in a letter, it is about showing wisdom, restraint, and the ability to unify.

Khama has stepped back. Now the BPF must step up. Resolve this internally, or let the courts provide the clarity you so desperately lack. Above all, stop the public squabbling, the party’s credibility is paying the price.

“You won’t have inner peace until you give up your war against the world.”- Naval Ravikant