BMD Congress Climaxes Into Bloodbath
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday July 19, 2017 18:00
Police who were said to be on stand-by near Matshekge Secondary School, the original congress venue, only surfaced when the third and last bout of fighting amongst BMD members had subsided. The infighting was amongst one faction headed by ‘expelled’ President Ndaba Gaolathe and the other by Chairperson Nehemiah Modubule.
Members of the two BMD factions pelted each other with stones. The pelting of stones lasted for over an hour. The general feeling amongst observers was that the police response was very late.
Days leading to the congress, the police stated that they were prepared for any eventuality that may surface at the congress. Ahead of the crucial congress, the mood also suggested that there could be fighting amongst the BMD factions.
“We believe we acted swifly and we applied ourselves very well. We managed to bring the situation under control. We are glad that the parties who were involved in the fighting listened to us and ceased their actions,” said Deputy Divisional Commander North-Central, Tamapo Bonyongo Nthoiwa.
Bobonong falls under the policing area of the North-Central police division. Nthoiwa said that in total four people were confirmed injured and two of them were still recuperating at Sekgoma and Nyangabwe hospitals, but they were not in danger. A victim who is associated to Ndaba’s faction was initially placed on a life support machine at Bobonong hospital before regaining consciousness. He was later referred to Francistown. It was initially speculated that one of the hospitalised victims had died, but the police denied the rumours.
According to the police, no one was charged with regards to fighting that happened at Matshekge, although it was speculated that one member of the Modubule faction was taken into custody. Nthoiwa said that the police were still investigating.
On Sunday, a few police officers were spotted surveying various parts of Bobonong in a bid to ensure that there is no repeat of what happened on Saturday. Police also said that they did not play a mediation role among the warring BMD factions. “We only offered them a neutral venue as per request of some of the party members,” Nthoiwa said.
The two BMD factions attempted to resolve their differences so that they could host a single congress, but they reached a deadlock. The factions then decided to hold alternative congresses.
Apart from a guardroom and another house, which were left with broken windows, no property was damaged at Matshekge.
At the initial planned congress venue for all BMD members, there were no official activities in the first half of the opening day of the congress as members from the two warring party factions took turns to pelt each other with stones. At Matshekge, Modubule’s team had roped in an amateur security guard company of about 50 men armed with sharp knives, sjamboks, stones and dogs to guard the main entrance to the school. Nthoiwa said that they were not aware that security guards from Modubule’s faction were carrying dangerous weapons.
“ Before the congress started, we were made aware that some people at the congress venue had dangerous weapons. We went to the venue about three times to establish if there were weapons, but we found nothing,” Nthoiwa explained.
Asked if it is appropriate for guards to carry dangerous weapons he said, “The question can be best answered by a body that licenses security guards.
The body (licensing security guards) is housed under the Office of the Presidents,” he said. It was clear that from the start that the official proceedings of the party will not take off smoothly. Leading to the congress, it was speculated that both factions will bring parallel delegates.
Ndaba’s candidates labelled Modubule’s supporters rented delegates while the former maintained the contrary. Gaolathe’s team arrived at the congress venue at Matshekge Secondary School in the morning and they were told that they were not eligible delegates. There was a heated exchange between Ndaba’s supporters and security guards, which culminated into fighting.
Ndaba had earlier on pleaded with his supporters not to fight with Modubule’s team, but return to their base camp at Bobonong Secondary School to hold their own congress if they are not allowed access into the congress venue.
Following the intervention of the police, both factions agreed to meet in order to iron out their differences so that congress proceedings can go on.
The meeting lasted for nearly two hours and it was agreed that another meeting will be held later in the afternoon where they reached a deadlock.