The evil that is Ntlodisa molatswana
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday January 19, 2018 18:00
FRANCISTOWN: Politics is a game of numbers. At times, politicians amass the requisite numbers in the political game fraudulently, merely driven by desperation to win.
BDP eligible members over the weekend could turn to ntlodisa molatswana tricks, a fraudulent registration extended to the opposition party members for the purpose of a candidate to win the controversial Bulela Ditswe primaries. Ntlodisa molatswana has just one purpose, to help candidates win primary elections.
Both the ruling BDP and opposition bloc leadership are aware of ntlodisa molatswana, which becomes even more pronounced during the primary elections.
In most cases, opposition activists will connive and target a weaker BDP candidate to win the primaries so that such a candidate could easily be punished at the general elections.
BDP primaries are an open season where opposition operatives are given an opportunity to ‘infiltrate’ the BDP and decide who wins the party primaries.
Ntlodisa molatswana is probably as old as politics itself. But the practice became more pronounced in Palapye in 2008 during the party primaries for a by-election in the area following the resignation of the then area MP, Boyce Sebetlela. Opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Botswana National Front (BNF) operatives found themselves caught up in the BDP internal factional battles. Now, both Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and Alliance for Progressives (AP) might find themselves trapped in the dirty politics.
This practice is common across the political divide but mostly pronounced within the ranks of the BDP. It’s is an old practice that is mainly remembered during internal party elections. It’s so embedded that many cannot do without it, as their opponents will otherwise beat them to their own game.
To carryout this fraudulent exercise, money is always involved as an enticement or political bait to attract willing opposition political members.
BDP operatives in 10 of the 18 opposition held constituencies would tomorrow battle it out for the 2019 general election ticket.
In this first round of the ruling party primaries, 28 contestants will battle it out in opposition held constituencies. There will be no action in eight constituencies where candidates are unopposed. Those sailing through are Dr Lemogang Kwape (Kanye South), Mpho Balopi (Gaborone North), Eric Molale (Goodhope-Mabule), Reaboka Mbulawa (Maun West), Tumisang Mngwegape (Gaborone Central), Allen Lekwapa (Selebi-Phikwe West), Anna Mokgethi (Bonnington North) and Thulaganyo Segokgo (Tlokweng).
Where there are contests, it is common cause that the decades long and illegal practice of ntlodisa molatswana which is seemingly an alternative to the slowly fading voter trafficking will rescue some candidates and win them party tickets.
It’s slowly becoming common that every BDP Bulela Ditswe season ahead of the general elections, some BDP activists closely befriend opposition activists for the purposes of favouring them during the primaries.
Former BDP executive secretary, Dr Comma Serema once decried that, “There are some people who due to ‘ulterior motives’ would continue with dual membership in an effort to ‘destabilise’ the BDP”.
Then, he vowed that his party would smoke out such characters by tightening the procedures and thoroughly screening those registering. This was in 2008. Today, the party is faced with the same old practice and this time in a very complex and technical manner.
Serema was worried by the reality that it was not easy to prevent party activists from breaking the party primary elections rules by registering opposition members.
It was in an earlier interview that the then BNF information and publicity secretary Moeti Mohwasa said ntlodisa molatswana becomes very prevalent where a party has all but collapsed structures at the local level.
“Where party structures are weak or non-existent it becomes very difficult for the party to track what type of new members it is getting,” Mohwasa had said. Under normal circumstances, a party is made up of small units, which make up bigger units and ultimately the party.
“Under normal circumstances, this system should be foolproof. But at the centre of it are the structures. Once the structures are not active, it is for anyone to just bring new members to the party. There is no checking who is genuine and who is not,” he said.
Responding to allegations of fraudulent registration of members, BDP’s chairman for communication and international relations sub committee, Thapelo Pabalinga explained that the process of registering members starts from the cell, ward and upwards.
“People know each other and that will reduce fraud. The integrity of our voter registration process is very good,” Pabalinga said this week.
He said if there are people who are hell bent on benefitting from the illegal process, “we will catch them up because our registration processes are watertight”.
Botswana Congress Party (BCP) vice president Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang is aware of ntlodisa molatswana and that their members have a tendency of colluding with BDP activists to vote in Bulela Ditswe primaries.
“We educate our people to follow our party rules upon registration. The problem is that some people join the party for various reasons,” he noted.
Gobotswang said while those involved justify it by saying, “Re a go ba pekela a hopeless candidate (We are going to vote for a hopeless candidate and after that we revert to our parties),” the danger is that not all return to their parties once the ruling party primaries are over.
To him party membership means remaining loyal and defending the party and not colluding with the opponents to defeat its objectives.
“It’s totally unacceptable for our members to have dual membership and as such they have to choose where they really belong,” Gobotswang warned.
BNF’s information and publicity secretary, Justin Hunyepa calls for clean politics and completely blames the ruling BDP for encouraging dirty politics.
“The BDP has been introducing dirty things in our politics such as voter trafficking and ntlodisa molatswana,” he said calling upon the ruling BDP to desist from its dirty form of politics.
Hunyepa called upon BNF activists to stay away from being bought to partake in dirty internal BDP politics through the weekend Bulela Ditswe primaries.