BPF NEC To Take President Over Coals
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday May 24, 2021 21:57
BPF National Executive Committee (NEC) on Thursday met over the Butale issue and referred it to the disciplinary committee, which will preside over the matter and make recommendations in a virtual congress to be held in July.
Recently, the BPF president was requested by the NEC to step down for a month for him to clear his name and to allow investigations to go on without interference.
According to BPF constitution, the party does not have the power to suspend nor can it expel the president but congress can. Party spokesperson, Lawrence Ookeditse said in a statement issued on May 21, 2021: “The fruitful NEC meeting considered the Butale matter as well as other party business and resolved that Butale be referred to the disciplinary committee of the party for his conduct since the complainant against him came to light. In particular, clause 6.1.5 of the party constitution provides under membership duties and rights that members are to ‘desist from engaging in course of conduct prejudicial, or in any act grossly detrimental to the BPF’. That the team selected by the NEC to make an inquest on the matter and its effect on the party continue its work and report back to the NEC.”
The Monitor has been informed that the Butale issue has divided the NEC with some members never bothered to attend the Thursday meeting claiming they were busy. Already, according to a source, some of them are allegedly holding secret meetings with Butale, having talks on helping him. “The concerned members have asked him not to step down on his position.
They believe that this issue is a way of trying to tarnish Butale’s name and push him out. Butale has supporters in the NEC and that is why it is difficult for the party to take serious action, plus our constitution is a disaster. This matter was not dealt with properly. I believe the party could have resolved it internally without making press releases. What Butale did is wrong, but we should have acted smart when handling it because the public learnt about the issue from us,” the source said. Another source said the newly elected party disciplinary hearing committee is expected to write to the party president next week.
“We hope those members will not be biased when dealing with the issue. It needs to hear both sides of the story so that it does not rely only on the report, which we understand will be complete by next week,” the source said.