�BNF is a sinking ship�
Ryder Gabathuse | Tuesday April 29, 2014 11:56
“I once told MP Kentse Rammidi upon his resignation from the BDP when he joined the BNF that his action was akin to a frog swimming towards a sinking ship,” said the frail-looking Merafhe to thunderous applause from the crowd.
Rammidi has since crossed the floor to the opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
Merafhe’s plan was perhaps to discredit the BNF, the party that Tonota MP Pono Moatlhodi has recently joined after 39 years of BDP loyal membership. He described the ruling BDP as a “very strong party founded on a very strong foundation.” He said the ruling party was a brand, and that, “much as we regret the departure of our former two MPs, the BDP remains intact and it’s a big party with sound policies.”
He said for many years, the BDP has continued to enjoy sound political leadership. “The BDP is not going to stand or fall on departures of two MPs, no matter how they rate themselves politically.”
He reminded those who wanted to jump ship that they were at liberty to do so.
“Democracy is the tenet of any democratic institution. If you don’t respect democracy then BDP can’t be your political home,” he stressed. Merafhe said that two former party MPs, Moeng Pheto and Moatlhodi left the party after failing to accept the results of the Bulela Ditswe primaries last year.
“I want to remind you that Moatlhodi ousted former Tonota MP, the late Lemme Makgekgenene and there was no hullabaloo after the loss. Now, why is Moatlhodi making such a noise about his loss?” he wondered.
Merafhe urged BDP diehards to campaign for their party without any fear, calling for them to ignore fallacies that Moatlhodi was never heard after appealing.
The retired politician said during his active days, he ran for the party chairmanship but lost and he never made noise about it.
He cited the 2003 incident in which the current Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe lost the chairmanship race to President Ian Khama in Ghanzi observing that there were no sour grapes after the event.
“In a democracy, we have to respect the voice of the people and not individual interest,” he said.
Another BDP veteran, former cabinet member Kebatlamang Morake told the rally that politics was like a relay that is shared by many politicians.
He encouraged BDP diehards to accept as the norm that in every race, there are winners and losers.
He then presented from the party archives, a BDP 1965 manifesto observing that the BDP is not going to promise the nation the impossible.
“Be careful, you are now entering difficult times in an election year when people shall be making false promises to you,” he said, adding that, “be realistic in your approach to life and don’t allow yourselves to be vulnerable to any forces in the constituency.”
He noted that during the era of Makgekgenene, there were no opposition councillors in Tonota, something that changed during Moatlhodi’ s current term as an MP.