Modubule: fire stoker of the times
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday May 5, 2017 18:00
History continues to judge the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) chairperson, as a man who is never far from political skirmishes in the party he is a member.
Today, the BMD is divided into angry factions led by Modubule/Gilbert Mangole on the one hand, and party president, Ndaba Gaolathe and his deputy, Wynter Mmolotsi on the other.
During his many years at the Botswana National Front (BNF), a popular saying was, ‘Dubs o kgona go bintsha batho pina e sa lele’.
Modubule however insists he is not a troublemaker, as people perceive him.
“I am one of the people who believe that things must be done properly as per the constitution. I don’t want a situation where people compromise the constitution. Even at BNF, I used to speak openly if one does not follow the constitutional procedure. The constitution is the one which guides every member. In that one ,I would not compromise,” Modubule said.
In 2008, the BNF southern regional committee suspended Modubule’s party, the now defunct United Socialist Party (PUSO) from its group membership.
This was after Modubule and his party members were accused of attacking the BNF in the media. They were accused of frequenting the radio stations to speak ill of the mother party. The Lobatse constituency, which was under the leadership of the then BNF national chairman, Bashi Sengwaketsi, had warned Modubule and fellow PUSO members to follow party procedures when they had complaints.
The then BNF president, Otsweletse Moupo accused Modubule of starting a faction within the BNF called United Socialist Party. Instead of facing disciplinary action, Modubule pulled PUSO out of the BNF and stood as an independent candidate in the 2009 general elections. Many BNF members in the constituency backed him against their own, Otlaadisa Koosaletse, who had just returned from the Botswana Congress Party where he was the founding president. The BNF members felt Modubule was unfairly treated by the leadership, and hence agreed to support him on condition that he (Modubule) re-joins the BNF.
Modubule agreed with the BNF members but reneged on that promise a few weeks later, when BNF was going to elective congress in Mochudi where Duma Boko was elected as party president. When he broke news to Lobatse residents, that he has decided to join BMD instead of the BNF, some party loyalists burst into tears saying he had betrayed them. The residents said they had talked to BNF to re-admit him. They vowed to ensure he lost the next time he stood for Parliament, and that is exactly what they did. His comeuppance was to lose Lobatse to Sadique Kebonang of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).
Now, Modubule is right at the centre of the BMD fights, still insisting his is not a trait of factional politics, but a stand on principle. In fact, his battles in the BMD could be traced to the day one of the founding members and the then party deputy president, Botsalo Ntuane returned to the BDP. Modubule, as the chairperson, the third in line by seniority, assumed he would automatically deputise the late Gomolemo Motswaledi. But the then president had other ideas. He dragged Ndaba Gaolathe from the backroom, as the policy director, to step into Ntuane’s shoes. Modubule, the only one in the national executive committee to have not come from the BDP, felt hard done-by when the majority supported the president’s call.
Gaolathe, after finally being endorsed by the congress vote, was to later assume the reigns of the higher office at Motswaledi’s demise.
This, according to analysts, left Modubule more frustrated as he believed as the most experienced politician in the movement, he deserved to lead BMD.
He must have given up the fight when the congress went to Gantsi, where Gaolathe was once again endorsed with a vote, unopposed. But Modubule led a strong faction to win not only against strong man, Pius Mokgware to retain the chairmanship but also win all the NEC posts.
The same faction’s youth had, a few months earlier, also swept the Youth League seats in Mochudi. Post Gantsi, his faction seemed to be on a high, but the decamping of the vice president, Mmolotsi among others, to Gaolathe’s side seemed to dent and deflate the Modubule/Mangole camp. But as it was said to be moneyed, and fully behind the return of the founding member, Sydney Pilane, the camp went about and around building blocks.
But by the time the Mahalapye Women’s league elective congress arrived, the Modubule’s faction seemed to be on the losing side. They lost all but one seat, of Rhoda Sekgororoane, another former firebrand BNF member.
The recent fracas that visited the Youth League elective congress in Ramotswa, which despite the faction’s attempt to halt, proved Gaolathe’s staying power. Some have even opined that Modubule’s latest outburst, and threats to discipline Gaolathe shows frustrations of a man finally losing the fire, and the power.
It remains to be seen if the former Lobatse legislator has any ammunition left to fight to keep fighting. The next two months before the July elective congress of the BMD could be the most decisive, and testing for Modubule.