Comrades want another meeting at OP

Staff Writer | Thursday June 5, 2014 16:54

Even more interesting about this election is my neighbour’s enthusiasm. He recently repaired his Toyota Stout (1982 model) to campaign for the councillor of my area.  The Stout has been resting on bricks for the past four years, and has already attracted two or three chickens for free and decent accommodation. He has been trying his luck for the past 20 years and wants to give it the last try before meeting  his maker.

This career has not only cost him financial resources, he had to watch two wives leave him for greener pastures, which are often red in this country. “After losing in the 1999 elections, my wife left and I learnt later that she was married to a MoDomkraga.  I stayed with another woman who left after I lost the 2009 elections and she also married MoDomkraga.  Monna, what should I do,” he asked me. “I can’t just give up because the margins are too close”.

What is intriguing about this soon-to-be councillor is that he believes that the comrades should adopt new strategies and stop politicking the way they used to do it 20 years ago. He has bought a secondhand laptop from the streets, and claims that he is on Facebook and Twitter in a bid to attract young voters.  ‘Technology has brought us good things, you talk to thousands of people with the click of a button. I am a modern politician and this time I’m going to the city council”.

However, he dislikes the posts that the young group put on social media and he responds to them personally. He even carries the laptop in his Stout and is ready to pounce on those he believes to be de-campaigning him.  The comrade is not happy that for the second time the president of the party has just allowed a golden opportunity to slip through his fingers. The first opportunity, he says was when a P40 million offer was made for him to either join the red green pastures a few months ago.  He states that he held a meeting with other comrades for which objective was to pass a motion of no confidence in the president. Just as they were about to do that, then ensued a court battle with some invisible characters who only want to destroy the party, he claims. “Where will the party ever get this opportunity again? Nobody will ever give him that P40 million even that movie star who is his friend. At least if this friend of his was Schwarzenegger, we would be talking big mullers. Schwazenegger is also a politician and I’m told he is a Head of State in America. So, we could invite him here, and he would charm Khama with his muscles”.

“His movies are good also and have a large following. For instance, Terminator Two, you can see that the guy has got money and he fights this ghost that would not die until at the end,” complained the comrade. The comrade continued; “Look, MaDomi made friends who have got big money. They have 57 vehicles for each constituency right now. When is our movie star bringing the vehicles for us to start campaigning? Time is not on our side”. The comrade is confident that the recent attempts on his president’s life were signs of a bitter rivalry from the ruling party after he turned down their offer to join them.

“You see,” the Comrade said, “these senior party officials do not have the interest of the party at heart. First, you can’t turn away P40 million when you know that re a sheleketla. Right now I have no petrol to go on campaign, yet MaDomi are using brand new vehicles they got from their financier”.  

A group of four young men arrive and they join us. They look a bit thin with clothes that have seen the better part of life. They are sharing a cigarette. “Ok, Tshiki, get the wheel spanner and replace that left tyre, it has a slow puncture,” he orders the youngest of the boys who follows the instruction immediately. “This is my campaign team, the boys are good and I can assure you that this time Tomkraga is in trouble” He issues another instruction for the boys to prepare porridge, and for another one to rush to the nearest butchery to buy mokwetjepe for the trip. They should also buy themselves cigarettes and P10 airtime each. The boys go.

He still thinks that the meeting between two presidents at OP was not well planned, otherwise it would have ushered in a new era. “That meeting needed a strategy, a well calculated agenda with the sole objective of wrestling the BDP from Kgama and subsequent take over by our president. But he missed the opportunity.

He should have just acquired the BDP membership, accepted the ministerial position and mobilise the membership to call for an urgent elective congress and challenge Kgama. Can’t you see that MaDomi ba a mo tshaba?”  How many congresses has this party held and Kgama was unchallenged? This was my president’s opportunity and he will never get it again.  My meeting with my neighbour ends after we had pushed the Stout to embark on another journey.