BOFEPUSU President Encourages AP To Join UDC
Chakalisa Dube | Monday September 25, 2017 18:00
While many members of a less than a week old AP have openly rejected the idea of affiliating to the UDC, Tshukudu said BOFEPUSU would encourage Ndaba Gaolathe’s outfit to think of joining the umbrella. AP officials have also remained non-committal as to whether the party will affiliate to the UDC or not. The AP is a splinter party of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) of the UDC.
Tshukudu who is also the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) president was speaking to The Monitor over the weekend in the wake of revelations that the federation leadership is deeply divided over the recent developments surrounding opposition parties. He was officiating at an event organised to mark BTU’s 80th anniversary in the city.
“It will not be appropriate for BOFEPUSU to encourage any political party to think that it can single-handedly unseat the BDP. I do not think there is a significant ideological difference amongst opposition parties,” he said.
Tshukudu said Batswana “should give members of the new party a chance to ascertain themselves. If they do not join the UDC, as a federation we will have to encourage them to do so (to affiliate to the UDC). If rejected, then that is when they can stand-alone, but such a move will not be good because the workers and Batswana will inevitably not be liberated from the BDP regime”.
Also worrisome, said Tshukudu, is the bickering amongst opposition leaders and members. “If leaders of opposition parties attack each other, they encourage the general membership to follow such a nasty route. They should differ in a civil manner because they will need each other in future. They should look at the bigger picture.”
Tshukudu said the federation is planning a meeting with all the opposition leaders, “where we intend to appreciate a few things in relation to the agenda and programmes of the UDC. If there is a caution we want to make (regarding the conduct of opposition leaders or anything of concern to us), we will make it clear at that meeting”.
Tshukudu’s calls come amidst talk that the BOFEPUSU leadership is divided on the AP, with some said to be backing the new party, while others are pushing for a continued working relationship with the UDC.
Although he did not want to dwell on the alleged differences between the federation leadership, Tshukudu said that he remains very firm on his belief that a united opposition is the only weapon that can end the BDP regime at the 2019 general elections.
Last week, BOFEPUSU deputy secretary general, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa was somewhat diplomatic when asked about brewing divisions within the federation (as a result of the formation of the AP).
Motshegwa, along with the federation’s labour secretary Johnson Motshwarakgole are said to be amongst those backing the AP. Motshwarakgole is a self-confessed admirer of Gaolathe.
During the 2014 general elections, BOFEPUSU members grouped themselves to support the coalition made up of the BMD, Botswana People’s Party (BPP) and the Botswana National Front (BNF).
The federation also openly sold policies of the coalition to Batswana and even offered financial aid during election campaigns.
Buoyed by the weighty backing of the civil servants, the UDC nearly snatched power from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). After the 2014 general elections, opposition parties and workers became optimistic that with a bit of luck and extra effort, the UDC will possibly wrestle the BDP out of power in 2019.
The optimism reached greater heights when the Botswana Congress Party, which chose to go it alone at the 2014 general election, decided to join the coalition early this year.