Molapise admits BPP death
Lindiwe Mozola | Thursday July 23, 2015 12:57
Molapise was speaking at the BPP youth and women’s league conference held over the weekend at Shanganani Junior Secondary School in Tsamaya. The conference was held under the theme, ‘A coherent, effective, meaningful youth and women’s league towards 2019 and beyond.’
The low turn out of people proved that indeed the once popular party was on the brink of collapse.
Molapise said it was up to the party members to rebuild the structures of one of the oldest opposition parties.He believes that when they work together diligently they could take the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) head on in the 2019 general elections.
He noted that there is need to re-brand the BPP because the old practice no longer sell neither does it serve them well. “To this end I am pleased to acknowledge and welcome efforts by some members, who are yet to meet the central committees, with strategies to re-brand the party,” he said.
Molapise added that the party youth at University of Botswana and other tertiary institutions are working tirelessly towards re-branding the party, which must be done urgently to shame those who say BPP is a dead horse.
He furthered that the theme for the day, “a coherent, effective, meaningful youth and women’s league towards 2019 and beyond” was appropriate and he has no doubt that they will emerge from the conference ready to resuscitate the BPP and spread it to all corners of the country.
“I urge you to exude life after this conference so that like your adversaries from BDP and BCP and your partners from the BMD and BNF under the UDC, ambit can learn about your contributions and see actions from your corner,” he said.
Molapise embraced the current status of the UDC saying that the partnership is growing from strength to strength. He however said that it is apparent that the BPP is still lagging behind. He indicated that if they do not up their game, some UDC parties will start questioning their contribution and may feel that the BPP is a weakling.
Molapise challenged party diehards to double their efforts in paving the way forward to the 2019 general elections and contribute a fair number of MPs and councillors.
“There is no doubt that in the immediate past election, we were the weakest link in the UDC partnership as we produced only one councillor,” he said.
Echoing Molapise’s sentiments, BPP chairman Richard Gudu who said that every organisation needs women and youth to function. He however advised members to select leaders wisely and avoid choosing people who would disappoint them along the way by joining other parties or deserting the party in pursuit of personal benefits.
Gudu said it is an open secret that their competitors happen to perform better than them in every election as a result of well-established youth and women’s league structures.
“I therefore challenge you to introspect so that the BPP can in the end add value and become more meaningful to the UDC and Botswana politics,” he said.