Masire The Nation Builder
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday June 26, 2017 15:47
During his Presidency, Sir Ketumile was not afraid to implement a policy popularised by opposition parties as long as he believed it could benefit Batswana. One of his implementations that the opposition fondly remember him about was the All-Party Conference.
This was a forum meant to brainstorm ideas about major developments that could help Batswana. It was a forum that helped parties to take decisions that were in the best interest of Botswana without looking at party differences.
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) veteran, Daniel Kwelagobe aka DK, who served under the four Botswana Presidents said Masire believed in internal party democracy to avoid internal fights.
“For example, he believed that party elections should be fair. He did not believe that people should be bought to vote for a certain individual like what is happening nowadays,” said DK.
He said Masire was one of the Presidents who went around the country preaching the BDP gospel and reviving the party structures. Masire co-founded the BDP in 1961. He served as its first secretary general (SG). DK continued; “Masire stood with his party when it was facing difficult challenges.
I remember very well in 1972 during the Francistown congress when we spent the night our members demanding that all languages be taught in schools.
We could see that the issue was likely to divide the party, but he had to convince members on how it could affect the country. By then, the country had no resources to implement that”. DK said Masire managed to contain members and they came out united.
He said another challenging time for Masire was during the Kanye congress called Kgoladisana. DK could not remember the year where members were encouraged to air their views on what could help the party and what was dividing it.
He said the same happened during Boipuso congress where Masire’s strength to lead was tested, but in the end, he succeeded in uniting the party. In the BDP, he became SG from 1962 and in 1980 he became the party president till retirement in 1998. He was first deputy Prime Minister in 1965 and then the vice president in 1966. In 1965 the BDP won 28 of the 31 contested seats in the new Legislative Assembly, giving it a clear mandate to lead Botswana to independence.
Until 1980 he also occupied the significant portfolios of finance from 1966 and development planning from 1967, which were formally merged in 1971.
However, his local Bangwaketse political base was eroded by his old nemesis Kgosi Bathoen II. During the initial years of Independence, the BDP government moved decisively to undercut many of the residual powers of the chiefs.
As a result, in 1969 Bathoen abdicated, only to remerge as the leader of the opposition Botswana National Front.
This set the stage for Bathoen’s local electoral victory over Masire during the same year. However, the ruling party won decisively at national level, thus allowing Masire to maintain his position as one of the four Specially Elected Members of Parliament.