BMD takes UDC to court
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday December 7, 2018 13:57
He said they were working on court papers that will be served on the UDC before Christmas. BMD time frame to appeal the decision by the UDC to suspend them from the affiliation expired last week and it had never bothered to appeal. UDC had given BMD 30 days to have appealed.
“We had made it clear at our last press conference that we will not subject ourselves to a structure whose objectivity and legitimacy is very questionable,” Mangole said.
“We are busy working on readying ourselves to go to court. Court papers will be served soon and very soon.”
Two months back BMD responded to UDC decision saying, “The suspension and the long decided upon expulsion of the BMD from the UDC are a final ploy to dispossess the BMD of its constituencies, all other reasons being ostensible. The BMD rejected, and will reject and fight to the end, any attempt to either suspend or expel it from the UDC, as it will any attempt to dispossess it of constituencies allocated to it in negotiations”.
The UDC national executive committee was supposed to make a final decision regarding BMD position within the UDC, with the former given 14 days to have responded to accusation levelled against them.
At first the BMD had claimed that it would not respond unless given the minutes of the meeting and names of all party members who had attended, but it seems they have now gone back on that decision.
Mangole said the July gatherings of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Botswana National Front (BNF), separately but conspiratorially resolved on unlawful strategies to steal BMD’s constituencies.
On issues regarding their president, Sidney Pilane’s behaviour, Mangole said any unfavourable and uncomplimentary statements made on social media and private radio stations were not, in any way, caused by president or the BMD.
“We will answer to any pertinent specific unfavourable and uncomplimentary statements once they are presented to us. The only people, even then just few, who left when our president launched the UDC council candidate in the Ramokgwebana by-election, were members of the BCP. They did so for reasons unknown to us. Need we remind you that the UDC went to win that by-election, and that the BMD had greatly assisted in that campaign,” the letter states.
He said Pilane has not, at any time and anywhere made any divisive and/or toxic pronouncements as alleged or at all.
The BMD secretary general said there is no evidence substantiating the accusations has been furnished a written request notwithstanding and that makes it impossible to answer meaningfully.
He said there is nothing in the UDC constitution which authorises members of the UDC, by conspiracy or otherwise, to exclude another member from participating in meetings and in the decisions of the UDC.
UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa confirmed that BMD has not appealed UDC decision. Meanwhile, the UDC National Executive Committee is meeting on Monday to decide on the matter.