Moupo rejects patronage approach to deployment
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday September 30, 2026 06:00
According to ex-Botswana National Front (BNF) president, Otsweletse Moupo, such an approach reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the BNF’s vision and mission. He states in his paper, which he is expected to be presented at the BNF policy forum in Selebi-Phikwe from October 9 to 11, the party’s long-standing struggle was not primarily aimed at securing material benefits for its members. The party members have been very clear about the issue of cadre deployment, and they argue that they had suffered for 58 years under the previous regime because of their political affiliation. Instead, he says, the objective was to establish a just social order in which the state would implement social and economic policies aimed at developing Botswana and improving the livelihoods of the majority. Moupo maintains that any material benefits accruing to BNF members deployed to government structures or parastatals should therefore be regarded as incidental to their responsibility of serving the public.
Moreover, he argues that even if the party were considered to owe rewards to its members, fairly distributing them would be difficult because the UDC’s breakthrough in the October 2024 elections was the product of collective efforts spanning generations of activists.
He says the more meaningful reward for party activists would be the successful implementation of the UDC’s socio-economic programme, particularly if it results in economic growth, job creation and expanded opportunities for unemployed young people. Moupo also dismisses suggestions that the BNF, an affiliate of the UDC, should emulate the Botswana Democratic Party’s (BDP) patronage system, which he says involved deploying party members across various community structures, parastatals, government positions and state-owned enterprises. He argues that the BDP model should not form the basis of BNF cadre deployment, warning that copying such an approach could foster nepotism and corruption. Furthermore, Moupo stresses that cadre deployment should not be confused with an employment policy.
He says there is no intention by the BNF or UDC to recruit only party members or sympathisers into the public service and parastatal sector. He notes that such an approach would also be impractical. To illustrate the point, Moupo refers to the government of Vladimir Lenin, which, despite its revolutionary character, relied on thousands of specialists, engineers, and managers from the former bourgeois system to operate the state sector.
Moupo says a proper understanding of cadre deployment must begin with party organisation, political education, and the development of capable members. He describes the BNF as a socially diverse organisation whose membership includes people from rural communities, small and medium-sized businesses, the working class and the intellectual middle class. This diversity, he argues, inevitably produces differences in political consciousness, initiative, and organisational ability. According to Moupo, some members actively participate in party structures, recruit others, attend meetings and conferences, and engage consistently in party activities. Others, however, largely limit their participation to possessing membership cards, wearing party regalia, attending occasional rallies, and voting for the party during elections.
He characterises the latter group as sympathisers or fellow travellers rather than cadres, arguing that their limited political understanding can make them vulnerable to manipulation during internal elections. Consequently, Moupo identifies political education as central to building a progressive party. He traces this emphasis to the BNF’s early leadership, including its founding figures, and notes that political education was embraced at the party congress held in Thamaga in 1977. Political education, he says, should go beyond teaching members the party constitution and policies. It should also help identify committed and capable members who can undergo systematic training and acquire organisational, political, and leadership skills. These members, he argues, become cadres through training, discipline, and practical experience.
They are expected to demonstrate a deep understanding of the party’s political and ideological positions, commitment to the interests of the masses and strong personal discipline. Ultimately, Moupo says, such cadres should form the pool from which responsible party leaders are selected and, where the party controls government, deployed to appropriate positions within the state apparatus. The paper, therefore, presents cadre deployment primarily as an instrument for developing competent and politically committed leadership, rather than a mechanism for distributing jobs or rewarding electoral loyalty.