Team Gaolathe develops cold feet
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday August 4, 2017 15:26
Mmegi has it in good authority that Gaolathe and his team would not go to court as they had threatened to do so in a letter they wrote to the Sidney Pilane led faction. Instead, they will await the UDC intervention and if they do not get a congress re-run, they will consult with the structures with a view to start a new party. “It is true our National Executive Committee (NEC) met on Tuesday.
I cannot reveal the details of the meeting. Of course, the committee has asked me to make a follow up on the issue, which we had written to UDC NEC seeking an intervention on our party differences. The thing is, our party cannot wait for long without taking action,” the team’s secretary general, Phenyo Butale said yesterday in an interview.
Butale said it was not conclusive at their meeting that they should stop court process but rather they agreed that they should not rush to court. However Mmegi has learnt that some NEC members feel that the court process would cost them a lot of money, close to P1 million, when they could in fact use P500,000 to go around the country reviving party structures.
Mmegi has learnt that the NEC has taken a resolution that the regions should consult its members on the way forward if the matter is not resolved quickly, as many in the committee believe that a new party is the only solution. According to a source, it is not yet clear if the new party would affiliate to UDC or not, as the issue is still being discussed.
Butale said: “I cannot talk about any new plans while we are still waiting for UDC intervention. Maybe that could be an issue for another day if UDC fails, which I don’t think it could happen”. Sources also allege that the Botswana People's Party (BPP) is considering affiliating to the new party if it is established after snubbing a UDC NEC meeting this week.
It has been widely reported in the past that the BPP is unhappy with the UDC following constituency allocations. The BPP claims they were not invited to the UDC NEC meeting, while there is widespread talk that they are unhappy that the UDC has not taken a position on the BMD mess.
UDC NEC met on Wednesday and deferred BMD issue to next week in Francistown. UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa had told Mmegi that they had invited BPP president, Motlatsi Molapisi and others a week before the meeting, something that Molapisi disputed. It is understood that Molapisi is also uncomfortable that Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is part of UDC NEC.
Molapisi is said to be supporting Team Gaolathe and he feels UDC leader, Duma Boko could have taken a stand on the side of Gaolathe. In an interview, Molapisi said the BPP is an independent party and it would not affiliate to any party or become a member to any. “If one of the parties would want to be our friend, as a party we could sit and talk about it. We still remain as UDC member. To be honest, there is no one who has approached us,” Molapisi said.