Unruly BNF veterans to face party's wrath
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday July 19, 2019 13:38
Of recent, some members of the Veterans League have been attacking the BNF leadership and planning to petition the party. According to a source, the angry members feel that the party should not condone indiscipline at all.
“During the Rakops conference, the party took a resolution that different constituencies should warn and caution some of the Veterans League members to desist from putting the name of the party into disrepute. It looks like those two members have intention to attack BNF president Duma Boko in the media for reasons known to them. The members have a tendency of even conniving with other members on how they can topple Boko from the party presidency,” the source said.
The source said the members want the resolution to be implemented quickly and the leadership should look at the procedure it had applied when expelling other members in 2012.
The members are concerned that the party is not implementing what the 2012 congress resolutions are saying regarding indiscipline amongst members.
Another source said that the congress also resolved that the party Central Committee should intervene and reconcile its party Youth League.
Recently some Youth League members suspended Youth League (YL) president Velem Heii.
A press release signed by the YL secretary for publicity and secretary for legal affairs, Yandani Boko and Ofentse Khumomotse, read: “We wish to distance ourselves and BNFYL from these unfounded, attention seeking and unconstitutional statements, which only seek to distract the BNF and its coalition partners from attaining State power come October. We wish to put it on record that the purported motion of no confidence against comrade Heii has no legal basis and therefore a nullity”.
On the issue of Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), Mmegi has learnt that both affiliates of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), BNF and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) members have requested their parties to be allowed to work with the new party on a structural level.
“There are members who want to be launched by the former president, Ian Khama and they requested the party leadership for the green light.
Some members believe that they could do well if they do cooperate with the BPF. But there are those who are not welcoming of such a development,” the source said.
UDC vice president Dumelang Saleshando said BPF had not formally written to them to discuss the issues of cooperation or how they would be working together.