Mixed reactions over BDP congress outcome
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday July 11, 2017 16:06
The Masisi team won all the contested positions at the congress. Even before the elections began, it was clear that the Molefhi camp was heading for the slaughter like sheep. Most of the party delegates who determined the BDP’s future leadership were staying at the Masisi’s opulent ‘Camp Dubai’ with a few lodgings at the Molefhi’s modest ‘Marakanelo camp’. Some party supporters are of the view that money played a major role in determining the outcome of the elections.
Gaotewe Sesana, nephew of Basarwa activist Roy Sesana and a self-proclaimed Masisi supporter said he was happy with how the elections panned out.
He said it was good that team Masisi won all positions that were on offer because it will give the faction total control of the party. Sesana said the win will make sure that Masisi carries out his role without possible sabotage by those who were not in his faction.
Frank Nfila, another Masisi diehard supporter was also ecstatic with how the elections went. Nfila who was also staying at Camp Dubai, said the most capable team that can move the party to success towards the 2019 general elections has won.
“I voted at the Masisi faction looking at its capability and good track record. We could not defy the president who said we should vote the Masisi team. This is good for the party’s succession plan,” said Nfila.
For Mompoloki Goepamang, the vanquishing of the Molefhi’s faction spelt doom for the party.
According to Goepamang who said he voted for the Molefhi camp in all the positions that were on offer, the outcome of the elections has not helped to unify the party but has further divided it.
“Molefhi is a very capable leader who can stand for the party during these tough political times. The opposition is making a lot of in-roads that need a person of Molefhi’s calibre to stem that tide. I see what happened as an own-goal by the BDP supporters. They will leave to regret the decision they have taken,” said a worried Goepamang.
He added that although he has no doubt that Masisi is also capable, he sees him as a divisive leader who is going to lead to the downfall of the BDP. Another delegate from Kgalagadi North, Omphemetse Gaetsholwe was happy with the outcome of the elections. He said it was good that the Masisi faction won all the positions that were at stake. “We voted for people from one faction because they will easily work together. What has happened is good for the party. We heeded the president’s plea to vote for the vice president’s team,” said Gaetsholwe.
A political science lecturer at the University of Botswana (UB) Dr Kebapetse Lotshwao said the victory by Masisi and his camp means that they are now in charge and full control of the party.
The UB don said many people in the past were of the view that Masisi was not a popular leader within the party. “Now that he has won the party’s chairmanship twice, it shows that he is a popular figure within the party. Going forward, the BDP will excel depending on how the victorious faction works with the vanquished group. The victorious bloc should extend an olive branch to the defeated camp,” Lotshwao warned.
“The Masisi bloc should not ride roughshod over the vanquished group for the party to swiftly move forward. They should include the defeated group in some of the party committees and day-to-day running of the party so that the defeated bloc also feels part of the party,” Lotshwao added.