What happened to my father's Domkrag? A call to arms for BDP progressives and Motswaledi supporters

BAO RASEBOLAI MOSINYI | Friday August 21, 2009 00:00

Not far behind will be the 2009 decimation of the A-Team.  Like the year of Kgola Disana, Domkrag went to Kanye as two political parties in one, for all intends and purposes.  The objectives of the two factions were clear to anyone who cared to listen: Annihilate the other.

The devastation of the now B-Team by Barata-Phathi was swift and resounding.  When the election results from Kanye were announced, I must have shed a tear. Perhaps two. 

I naively proclaimed 'the Domkrag of my father lives!'  The same Domkrag my ol' man would have easily ran out of superlatives if he were to describe, back in the days prior to factions. 

Kanye must have been a sight to behold:  Ordinary folks came from the sands of the Kalahari and the depressions of Makgadikgadi to assert their collective belief, and derail the plans of an ill-advised President to rid the party of the principled. 

That congress was a watershed moment, and will forever be remembered as such.  As Khama and his B-Team licked their wounds, we remained hopeful that they will come to understand that their devious plan to systematically rid the party of the people they do not like was a dismal flop.  This, I reasoned, is the power of democracy.

The people had spoken.  And boy did they ever speak loudly!  For many, the hope was that though bruised, President Khama would emerge from the Kanye congress a better and wiser man, and that he would accept the people's wishes and learn to work with Kwelagobe and the rest of the central committee.

After all, they have all been elected by the people.  If one feels he can't work with the other, there is always the door (for him, not the other).  That's just the way things work in this world.  The reality of the situation is that the so-called 'Khama magic' failed to work at Kanye, and one would have thought from then onward the President would act and react like a leader who is serving at the pleasure of the people.  A question could be asked as to whether this so-called 'Khama magic' is nothing but just a fabrication by 'yes men' to mislead the people into thinking that such a thing exists.

Regardless of his interpretation (or misinterpretation), the Kanye congress sent a loud and clear message to President Ian Khama.  Never before had a BDP leader so openly de-campaigned a fellow Democrat.  Festus Mogae sent chills down the spines of the faithful when he openly supported Ian Khama against Ponatshego Kedikilwe in the build-up to the 2003 Ghantsi congress.

Yet, he did not publicly speak ill of PHK, nor did he openly declare that he could not work with him.  To any reasonably thinking being (re ntsha malope a ga Khama), utterances by a sitting President that he cannot work with another party leader signal weakness, and expose his infinitesimal leadership skills. Not only does Ian Khama now have to work with Daniel Kwelagobe, but there is a whole entourage of Barata-Phathi central committee members to deal with.

This brings me to the suspension of the BDP Secretary General Gomolemo Motswaledi, a humble and dedicated Democrat the likes of whom are few in this day in age. Yet, Khama has now suspended him.  We remain in shock, are still struggling to understand what it is that Motswaledi did to deserve this outrageously punitive treatment.

I admit to not be well-versed with internal BDP politics, but it has been claimed many a times that this same Motswaledi was stopped by Ian Khama from contesting the primary election in Serowe to make way for the President's brother. What a leader we have!

Since the Kanye congress, President Khama has apparently taken up trench warfare on the new central committee.  Unfortunately, the President has seen some early superficial success - the most recent of which is the suspension of Motswaledi from the party - and it is time again that the democratic wing of the BDP steps up to the plate, just like they did in Kanye.

This is a call to arms for everybody, from the army of activists who powered Gomolemo Motswaledi to the General Secretary position to dormant Democrats like me.  We also need to be sure that wavering Democrats in Parliament see that there is strong popular support for the democratic ideals of the BDP, and that they also need to stand for these ideals.  We must take on this historical task at hand with all the urgency it demands. It is often remarked - and rightly so - that one should never underestimate the heart of a wounded tiger.  With the suspension of Motswaledi from the party, we have seen what a wounded tiger can do.  But if like-minded Democrats also believe so much that the President is misguided, and do not accept Motswaledi's suspension, then the responsibility to ensure we prevail is our own.  Those who voted for Motswaledi at the Kanye congress didn't do it for him:  They did it because they understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.  For even as we celebrated that victory, we knew the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime.

For all the challenges in the history of the BDP, there is none greater than turning the party from slipping into a dictatorship.  We need everyone in the BDP who believes in the ideals of the party to rise to the challenge.  Right now, this very moment, is the time to declare that this is our party, and that an extreme, uncompromising, and militant President will not wreck our party's path to an even better democracy.  All must rise, perhaps led by former presidents, former MPs, and other party veterans.

Disappointed though I may be with President Khama, I still believe in the ideals of the BDP that his father was very instrumental in formulating. I also have faith in the ordinary members of this party, and in my generation of colleagues in the BDP.  Our generation has to come together to fight for the ideals of our party.  We must be relentless.  We must not relent.  We are the future of this country, and the future is now.  With Motswaledi's suspension, Toutona o hetile metsi o tshwere seretse jaanong!Some will dismiss my call since it comes from a relative unknown in BDP circles, but it is precisely because I am such that I write.  The BDP is a public institution for everyone, from the very famous and the very rich to underlings like me.The BDP must not allow Motswaledi's suspension to stand.  Over the years, I've been deeply moved by the young people who've told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about the BDP the way their parents always were until the Mogae presidency.

This sense is even more profound today.  That is why I support the likes of Motswaledi and Botsalo Ntuane to win in October.  My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined.