�Gaolathe�s faction manufactures crisis at UDC�
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday September 1, 2017 14:49
On Tuesday, Molapise through Hilda Sibisibi, an employe at UDC office, sent an agenda for the UDC NEC scheduled for September 5. Sibisibi is a well-known supporter of Ndaba Gaolathe, a president of one of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) factions. Surprisingly, the agenda was not sent to the UDC president, Duma Boko and vice president, Dumelang Saleshando of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). According to the agenda, the UDC convenor, Lebang Mpotokwane will present an item on proposal to pre-schedule meetings and another proposal to circulate minutes of previous meetings with notice of the next meeting.
He will also present an item about activation of group established to implement decisions of the NEC. Reverend Prince Dibeela, who was also the convenor of the opposition bloc will present about recommendations of the Transitional Committee. This Transitional Committee/Team is a hot potato within the UDC affiliates. Dibeela is also Botswana National Front (BNF) vice president. Those who deny the existence of the committee are of the view that they do not know who mandated it. And they argue that they do not know who drafted the terms of reference.
“The plan is to tarnish the UDC before Gaolathe’s led BMD leave to form a new party. They are manufacturing a war within the UDC. Why will Molapise be interested in calling a meeting now when he has been inactive in the new UDC NEC?” said one of the leaders of the opposition bloc. It is public information that the Gaolathe faction is at advanced stage of forming a new political movement. It is alleged that they honoured UDC mediation efforts last week as a public relations gimmick. Another source explained that according to UDC constitution, Molapise cannot call any meeting.
“The duty of the chairperson is to chair meetings at conferences. He cannot chair or convene the NEC meetings. His other duty is to coordinate disciplinary matters in the party. It is more or less a ceremonial post,” another source said.
Reached for comment, Mpotokwane said the agenda of the Tuesday meeting is internal. “This is very wrong. That agenda was not supposed to be leaked to you. The agenda is internal and is meant for UDC old NEC committee only which BCP was not part of it. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the recommendations that the Transitional Committee came out with on how UDC could work with BCP,” the soft-spoken elderly Mpotokwane said. He added that there is no way they could have invited BCP when they are going to discuss it.
He explained that this committee got its mandate from old UDC NEC and its chairperson was Dibeela. The convenor confirmed they would also hand the report they had made as the Transitional Committee. He continued: “All the three old UDC leaders Boko, Gaolathe and Molapise are aware of this committee. That is why we had a meeting with them at my house to inform them of the importance of handing over this report. The report entails responsibilities that each leader would be expected to do in the UDC. We have invited all old UDC leaders except the BMD ones”.
For his part, Molapise said the meeting is coordinated by the convenors, especially Mpotokwane. However UDC head of communications, Moeti Mohwasa said UDC NEC was not aware of the meeting but, they had learnt about it after making enquiries about it. “We are not invited to the meeting. The UDC constitution is very clear on who is supposed to call the meetings. BCP and BNF cannot attend a meeting that they are not invited to,” Mohwasa said.
Reached for comment, Saleshando who is also the BCP president, also confirmed that they were not invited for the meeting. “We don’t know about the meeting. I have a full schedule of UDC meetings and the one you have mentioned is not in that schedule. We suspect it is a BPP and friends meeting,” Saleshando said.