BNF congress war goes to court

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Wednesday January 21, 2009 00:00

 

In their application, the BNF members Days Mokhubame and Thuso Mogorosi insist that the decision of the BNF not to call a congress when the last one was held in 2005 violates Article 11.8 of the BNF Constitution and is therefore unlawful and should be set aside.

The applicants are praying that the BNFs decision to call an ordinary national congress only next year should be declared unlawful.

They are further praying that Moupo and the Central Committee should be ordered to call an ordinary national congress this year.

Following a split in the party leadership, BNF leader Moupo called a special congress in 2007 where a new Central Committee was elected. Moupo was retained as the party president at that special congress.

In his founding affidavit, Mokhumbame said Article 11.8 of the BNF constitution states that a national congress shall be held once every three years. He added that in terms of Article 11.8, there is also a special congress which may be convened when necessary.

The special congress, he said, may be convened by the Central Committee or at the request of two thirds of the national constituencies. I wish to note to this court that the last time that the BNF held an ordinary congress in terms of Article 11.8 of its constitution was in 2005 at Ledumang Secondary School in Gaborone, he said. He added that the next national congress, in terms of Article 11.8, was to be held last year.

Mokhubame said Moupo is insisting that since there was a special congress in 2007, there should not be any congress until three years from 2007. In his view, Moupo and his leaderships interpretation and understanding of the BNF constitution, particularly the article on a national congress, is wrong.

The fact that there has been a special congress in 2007 does not mean that the constitutional obligation of having an ordinary national congress goes away, he argued.

He said Moupo should have called an ordinary congress last year as the constitution does not say if a special congress is held, the ordinary congress shall not be held when it is due.

Mokhubame said in November last year, he wrote a letter to the BNF demanding that they should call an ordinary congress. He said the party never responded to his letter. To him, this is a clear indication of the Central Committees position that they will not call an ordinary congress. Mokhubame avers that there is need to call a congress to elect a new leadership, given the many serious problems of suspensions and expulsions afflicting the party, as well as Moupos blunders.

He said the congress should also deal with reports from constituencies, adopt resolutions and address burning national issues. The last time all these things happened was in 2005 and it is about five years without a congress to discuss various political matters that are important for its existence, he said.

He argued that Moupo and his Central Committee no longer have the mandate to be running the BNF. Infact the decisions they take supposedly as BNF leaders are invalid, null and void as their mandate to be leaders of the BNF has expired.

It therefore cannot be right that we have a party run by people whose mandate has expired. There must be a congress to elect new leaders and give them a fresh mandate to run the Botswana National Front, he appeals.

Mokhubame said he is concerned that with the level of damage that Moupo and his leadership have inflicted on the BNF, the party runs the risks of losing all its seats if the elections are conducted when he is still at the helm.

BNF publicity chief, Moeti Mohwasa, has confirmed that they have received the notice papers and that they will defend the matter. As far as he is concerned, the party congress is supposed to be held next year.

The application to call a congress comes just after another BNF member, Akanyang Magama, lodged a successful case in which the High Court ordered that the party should not call for a re-run of the Gaborone South parliamentary primaries.