What went wrong? The Dr Letshabo interview

| Friday October 23, 2009 00:00

After her unsuccessful bid to challenge Otsweletse Moupo for the BNF presidency nothing has been heard from Dr Kathleen Letshabo. Mmegi traced her to Lusaka, Zambia, where she says she is doing work for her new employer. In an email interview she answers Mmegi questions on the recent elections.

Mmegi: You and your lobby group were roundly defeated in the central committee  elections held  in Molepolole over the weekend.  As the leader of a lobby group, what do you think went wrong?

Letshabo: We have always known that the results of the election will depend on our message reaching BNF members. The message simply did not reach as many people as we had hoped.

The strategy of the other camp was to call the elections as quickly as possible, before members came alive to what the issues were. They succeeded at that.

As leader of the party, Moupo also refused to realise that we - all of us in the out-going Central Committee (CC)- had an obligation to account to the congress about why the congress had to be called before the mandate of the CC was over.

And that's my greatest beef with Moupo. When people tell him that his is a leadership position without any obligations to those who voted him in, he sheepishly believes it.

Mmegi: Ever since the results were announced, you have not personally made a statement either congratulating the winners or denouncing the results. Are you a bad loser?

Letshabo: When we talk of ethical considerations, it does not make any difference to me that someone won the election and I lost it. I invite the winners to stand up boldly and tell this nation that the vote was an endorsement of their views on the ethical considerations, that good governance and ethical conduct do not matter, or that the issue is settled and will be forgotten.

I want them to pronounce also that the vote increases the electability of the BNF, and that of Moupo as the leader of the party. If that makes me a bad loser, then so be it. I have been called worse in this election, far worse.

Mmegi: Some people in your lobby group have said that they are yet to make a determination before they pronounce a verdict on the elections.  Personally do you accept the elections results or not?

Letshabo: I have no information upon which I can make that determination. I will leave that to people that have access to the information. But to me winning or losing does not make a difference. The bigger issue is what that means.

Mmegi: You and your group were passionate about the ethical transgressions that you alleged Moupo has committed but the BNF delegates gave Moupo a resounding victory that notwithstanding.  Doesn't this suggest that your whole campaign was premised on a non-issue?

Letshabo: Moupo was put in office with a 100 percent endorsement by BNF members in July 2005. When you look at the results of the Molepolole Congress, only 22 months after his endorsement, at least one third of the delegates or 33 percent believed that he is not fit to lead.

This number can only grow if he continues on the course that he has followed in the past two years - that of holding the party at ransom with his own personal affairs, and causing it to carry an undue burden of defending his irresponsible professional conduct.

So, ethical considerations are definitely an issue, even in the BNF. For argument sake, if his victory suggests that this was a non-issue to the BNF members, it would be interesting to wait and see if it will be a non-issue to Batswana in the 2009 election. 

When you moved around and listened to the debates on Saturday evening, the question that was asked the most was: 'La re le a go mo rekisa jang ene Moupo ka 2009?'

I am dying to have that question answered by those that think that ethical considerations are a non-issue. For my part, I believe that the electorate will hold the BNF to account.

Let's not forget that over and above everything else, the BNF by its very nature is not just an interest group. It is a public institution. Those in the leadership hold it in trust for the public, members and non-members alike - the very public to which we go when we want to be voted in. The value system by which we are going to be judged is one that operates in this society as a whole.  As a member of this society, I know that we are increasingly demanding that our leaders be competent, trustworthy and accountable to the electorate. I would make the same demand of leaders in the ruling party and in the opposition - more in the opposition where I have a chance to influence events and decisions.

Mmegi: As the political head of your lobby group, what do you think is going to happen to your camp now that the elections are over?

Letshabo: Our group came together after the congress was announced, for the sole purpose of lobbying to remove Moupo from the position of BNF President.

A number of people were intimidated for associating with our cause. The sense of entitlement from Moupo and his camp was such that some individuals were asked the question by Moupo himself: 'Gatwe o supporta Letshabo?', as if there was something wrong with supporting Letshabo. I can only hope that these people will not be victimised. I'm not holding my breath though.

Mmegi: Since 2001, you have been a member of the BNF central committee.  Are you prepared for life as an ordinary member of the BNF?

Letshabo: Being an ordinary member of the BNF will actually be more beneficial and profitable to me than being in the leadership. So, I will definitely embrace that. I will take the opportunity to redirect my resources - time, energy, money - to my personal priorities. 

But let me be frank with you on this one issue. To the extent that I do not embrace the value system as I'm experiencing it in the BNF at present, the bigger issue for me right now is what to do with that. I'm going to take my time and figure out an appropriate response.

Mmegi: You were the first woman in the history of the BNF to ascend to the highest post of Vice President and to some other women you represented a realistic chance to become Botswana's version of the Liberian Sirleaf. Is there any chance that you could bounce back to the political big stage?

Letshabo: I believe I could if I set my mind to it, but right now I'm not planning to pursue that goal. As you may be aware, I've recently taken a new job - education development, on the international stage. Development of people is a passion of mine, borne out of the political work that I've pursued all my life. My spare time is going to be redirected to educational development of Africa's children in countries where I work.

The work includes education policy development and monitoring implementation of programmes. That will keep me busy in the immediate future.

Other than that, as long as I have the means to do so, I will always be a player in Botswana's political stage.

Mmegi: During your tenure in the BNF leadership, did you learn any instructive lessons?
Letshabo: The lessons are too many to mention here. But the one that I wish to mention is that political organisations do not exist in a vacuum.

They should be dynamic or they will lose their advantage. After all that has happened, the BNF cannot afford to be complacent. It cannot be business as usual in my party.
Mmegi: Looking back at your political life and your campaign in the just ended elections, do you have any regrets?

Letshabo: My political life is still very much here with me. I have no regrets for standing for what I believe in - and I know that it is only a matter of time before I will be vindicated.

It's happening already. We put the BNF to the kind of test where people are asking the question 'a tota gatwe party e santse e emetse dikeletso tsa bahumanegi?' And why not? Is it not the reason why the party was founded in the first place?

I do have regrets, though, about certain actions in the campaign, and question myself whether I have a right to expose my family to such malice.

The most painful thing that happened was to see Moeti Mohwasa's paper publish a story entitled 'Kwelagobe marries Letshabo', deliberately misrepresenting the truth by using my picture and that of the BDP Secretary General, and to see that being used as a major campaign tool during the night of the congress. That hurt me. But, if people had to sink to these levels to ensure a victory for their man, then let him win.

Mmegi: In 2005 you encouraged Gaborone West North voters to vote Moupo, would you do the same in 2009?

Letshabo: Thank God, that will be somebody else's job.
Mmegi: There has been talk of discordance between academics and their elitist interests on the one hand and the unchanging masses in the BNF on the other. Is this a fair characterisation of the BNF's current problems?    

Letshabo: If I knew what the word 'academics' meant to the Botswana media, I would be in a better position to answer the question. Does it mean people that work in the academic division of the University of Botswana? If so, there were only three of us in the out-going central committee. 

I have never been given any evidence that remotely suggests that Drs. Letshabo, Mogalakwe and Tafa wanted to derail the party with some elitist agenda.

Maybe 'academics' is used to refer to educated, as in 'degreed' people. If that is the case then that practically includes all of Moupo's out-going central committee. Again, what new elitist agenda, if any, did Moupo and his team propose?

The problem in the BNF is, in my view, that ensuring the personal financial and/or economic survival of one man was made a priority of the party even if it meant destroying the BNF in the process. Life in the BNF before Moupo's personal problems - London, trust funds, 2006 State of the Nation address, India Congress Party conference - was indeed enjoyable.

'OPERATION TSOSOLOSO' was well under way, and our cadres were all over the place recruiting new members. For my part, I can only say that I am extremely happy not to be associated with all of that, and that I did the best I could to demonstrate that this behaviour flies in the face of what good leadership is all about.

I know of many in the Moupo camp who have to make excuses and strenuously explain their choices to their families, their friends, and to Batswana as a whole and I can say I feel so good about the side that I'm sitting on.