Sabotage
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday November 3, 2017 18:00
The UDC NEC is scheduled for a crucial meeting next Thursday, November 9, in Gaborone, where issues such as the legality of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) membership and the BPP grievances will be discussed. The meeting is also expected to disband the old UDC conveners.
The meeting is seen as a make-or-break for the coalition, which is also battling with the troubles in the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD).
Mmegi has learnt that the BPP president Motlatsi Molapise and his deputy Mbaakanyi Lenyatso plan to sabotage the NEC meeting.
Authoritative information leaked to Mmegi this week, indicates that the BPP head honchos, Molapise and Lenyatso, will meet with allies a day before the scheduled meeting to finalise a plot of how to attack the UDC and Botswana National Front president, Duma Boko. Also targeted is the UDC vice president and BCP leader, Dumelang Saleshando.
“The intention is to bring up new issues so that they are justified when they say there is a crisis in the UDC. Their intention is to join the Alliance for Progressives (AP),' sources close to the matter told Mmegi.
It is understood the clandestine meeting will be attended by, amongst others, Boko’s detractors with the BNF central committee and prominent individuals who worked to unite the opposition parties into the UDC. Mmegi has a list of the names stated as key to the plot to destabilise UDC and bring down Boko.
Before the BCP was roped into the coalition, the parties that formed the UDC were the BPP, the BNF and the BMD.
Mmegi is informed that Molapise has told those closest to him that he does not attend UDC meetings deliberately.
“Molapise has privately told both Boko and Saleshando that the UDC should have pounced on the Matshekge bloody congress to disqualify or suspend BMD from the UDC,” said another source. “He has said the BPP is not prepared to work with them if they do not take any action against Pilane.
“He has also advised Boko and Saleshando that the UDC should consider working with the AP (Ndaba Gaolathe’s BMD breakaway party, Alliance for Progressives) because its leadership has renewed itself,” the insider said.
The November 9 meeting is said to have been motivated by Molapise, who allegedly told the UDC leaders that the old UDC NEC wanted to meet and hand over and also discuss pending BPP issues.
“This is in fact hogwash and the plan is to use the meeting to destabilise the UDC. Molapise has many major complaints, including that Boko many times ignores his calls and does not even visit him when he is in Francistown.
“By comparison, Ndaba Gaolathe (AP leader) and Saleshando always pay him courtesy calls,” the sources said.
UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa confirmed that the UDC NEC would meet next week Thursday, on November 9.
“I cannot reveal the agenda of our meeting,” Mohwasa said, but added that, “I am not aware that the UDC president will meet with old UDC NEC”.
In response to the allegations of the BPP leaders’ plot, Lenyatso stated that, “I only talked to my president Molapise over the phone about UDC NEC meeting. I know the UDC meeting of the 9th was scheduled after Boko, Saleshando and Molapise met”.
He however insisted that, “I am not aware of any meeting of the 8th except the BPP one. Again, I do not see any problem if the BPP meets first so that they could present their case well before UDC”.
He said BPP had long wanted to meet Boko on their issues and they feel the matter has taken too long. When contacted for comment, Molapise promised to call back, but never did. Attempts to get back to him failed, as his phone was unavailable.