BDF must not be entangled into BDP civil war

Richard Moleofe | Friday March 24, 2017 15:39

He was clearly delighted to serve and protect the same democracy at an elevated level.

Khama is not only a political leader of the country; he is specifically a Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces. This means that he has such an influence in the direction that these disciplined forces take on daily basis. All those men (and no ladies at the moment) are overseeing those organisations because they have been elevated by him.

Many people have doubted if Khama would finally vacate the seat of the presidency in 2018 at the end of his second term. I would like to observe that indeed the writing is now on the wall. The man is busy working on his farewell speech.

The fact that there is so much uncertainty surrounding his departure is indeed a serious cause for concern.  The fact that there is a brewing civil war within the party regarding the replacement of Khama, we all need to be concerned as this is opening the country to a serious security threat.

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party(BDP) has made an unwritten policy on promotion of senior civil servant including those in the armed forces. The policy is about the exclusive promotion of only those in possession of BDP membership cards. 

The card has become a weapon of mass distraction for some senior civil servants including those in the armed forces. The card is often made visible by those in possession of it. Even at BDF, it is common practice that senior officers use the power of the card.

Many senior officers have succumbed to pressure and registered with the ruling party and are now wilding the power of the card. For that reason, they are now secretly falling behind the different candidates vying for the Presidency.

Officers beyond the rank of major are directly promoted by the President himself and the tendency often leans toward impressing him. When you are a member of a party that is at war with itself, it is natural to take sides.

This is why I think it is absolutely wrong to allow serving members of the military to become registered members of a political party, particularly the one in power.

I have been in the military and as things are unravelling at BDP, I seem to have taken a side of one of the contenders for the Presidency. Such sympathies are more galvanised when one is a member of the ruling party, something that is abhorrence to me. I have elected to take a stand with the Masisi camp, which is pitted against the Molefhi, and the Khama axis headed by the president’s younger brother.

Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi lives on what we would term as legitimate expectation in as far as his ascendancy to the Presidency is concerned. That is why in 1997 the country went through a referendum to cement that. This guarantee cannot just be taken off his face.

The changes in the Constitution of the country happened because the political leadership at the time wanted to offer us what they termed as “political assurance and stability.” We are now having none of the above as the three camps are jostling for power.

When Mokgweetsi Masisi was chosen as the Vice President of the country, Mmegi labelled him as an unlikely VP. From the civil war that now characterises the ruling party, we can revisit that old article on this publication for a re-read. It is most likely as some in the media fraternity have predicted that the VP may be dropped in the next impending Cabinet reshuffle.

This is highly possible that we might soon see ourselves in this scenario as a country. The President has every right to drop anyone from his cabinet including the VP. But here is the catch; he will need the approval of Parliament to get his next choice accepted. It will not be as easy as it was in the past. The reason why Masisi insists on getting the position of chairman for the party is for purposes of securing some form of power around himself.

If he is dropped as VP, he can use his political leverage as chairman to steer himself out of trouble. The reason why Masisi has decided to defy his employer to opt for running for the chairmanship is a serious misdemeanour that Khama will not leave unpunished.

Khama does not want anyone to defy his orders and he makes sure that there are consequences for such offenders. But Khama may not get what he got years ago. The ruling party in parliament is clearly divided and it may be a very difficult to get his next choice passed.

The opposition MPs may in this case fill in the void and become kingmakers. There is absolutely no way Khama can circumvent parliament, that will be the first time, in fact the only time he will need to beg parliament to approve his actions.

A lot of card carrying officers at BDF will be watching from the sidelines with little they can do. If anything some can help with wiretaps on a rival camp. We are still poised for more action in this civil war. Remember that we are still having the unaccounted spy equipment. By now that may be in good use to eavesdrop into the other’s camp. It is even more dangerous when you are a card carrying member.

You would then be pushed by passion as a secret zealot of the party to make show that your side wins. For that reason, I would urge all those red collared officers to return the cards. You are armed and it will not be a good sight with frustrated armed men.