Is Khama in denial of BDP troubles?

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Friday July 16, 2010 00:00

 

Although the formation of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) seems to have rendered him restless, Khama does not want to accept that there is a problem in the BDP.

Since the formation of the BMD, the President has been travelling to places, which are regarded as BMD strongholds to discredit the new party and paint its, power-hungry, self-seeking individuals who can readily 'sell' the country.

At first, he held a star rally at the Francistown South constituency and lately at Tsamaya Village in the Tati East constituency.

At these rallies, Khama assured people that the BDP is still strong and that the defections have made the party much stronger than before. He was quoted as saying the defectors were like poison and that they had to be removed before they could spoil the party.

BDP spokesman Segaetsho Garekwe had earlier on reiterated that the ruling party was not under pressure from the formation of the BMD. He was allegedly reacting to comments made by newly elected president of the Botswana National Front Youth League (BNFYL), Kagiso Ntime, who had suggested that an 'exodus' of MPs and councillors to the new BMD was hitting the BDP hard and that the party's leadership was in a panic.

However, some people have asserted that Khama is in denial and that his stance could be detrimental to the BDP.The Telegraph columnist, Sonny Serite, once wrote: 'Ian Khama is suffocating, politically so to speak. His political oxygen is running out. Rapidly so.'

He had stated that it would seem Khama was still swimming in a lake of denial if his utterances in Francistown were to be taken seriously. He said even though Khama does not want to sound panic alarms, his actions and words are a paradigm of paranoia and panic.

He declared: 'It is clear, in Khama we have a sinking president who will go down with the once Titanic BDP'.An American inspirational author, Donald Walters, once observed that self-acceptance comes from meeting life's challenges vigorously.

'Don't numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory,' he said.

If all is well within BDP ranks, one wonders why the President is travelling around the country trying to discredit the BMD, while at the same time he says the departure of some BDP members was good riddance.

Botswana Congress Party (BCP) official, Morgan Moseki, said politically, Khama would not admit that the BDP has a problem as a 'damage control measure'. By so doing, he said, Khama is trying to allay the fears of party diehards. 'For President Khama to hold a rally in Tsamaya for the first time, it shows that all is not well in the BDP,' he said.

In his own words, the BDP is headed for collapse and that as a soldier, Khama feels that it is a sign of cowardice to accept defeat. 'The truth of the matter is that he is in deep trouble,' said Moseki.

For Botswana National Front (BNF) information and publicity secretary, Moeti Mohwasa, there is no way the BDP can be strong when many of its members are departing en masse.

'Never in the history of politics in this country has a president gone around addressing star rallies just after the elections. That is an indication that something is amiss. It shows that this is the beginning of the end for the BDP,' said Mohwasa.

He noted that the other problem with the ruling party is that everything is centred around the President, which makes it difficult for the members to decide on how they can save the party.

'What is happening now in the BDP is a situation whereby they do not know if they should keep the President or they should recall him. Either way the party has reached its end,' he said.

Tjiliga Bolatotswe Letsholo, a BCP member in Boteti South, said what is happening in the BDP now is similar to what happened to the BNF around 1997/98 when the leadership denied that the party had a problem but ended up breaking-up with the formation of the BCP.

He stressed that African leaders have a tendency of 'hiding behind the finger' as they do not usually want to admit their shortcomings.

However, Garekwe has defended his party, saying it is not in denial of the current feuds that are bedevilling it. 'The President has acknowledged that we had some problems before, but now that the people who were causing these problems are gone the party is healed,' he noted.

He emphasised that they have never denied that the party has problems, pointing out that the Khama was roped in to heal factional problems within the BDP. 'That in itself shows that we acknowledge that there were problems,' said Garekwe.

The BDP has enjoyed political hegemony since independence in 1966 and has been rather stable, notwithstanding factionalism which has been a feature of its internal politics for decades. Khama was brought into politics to restore the BDP and terminate factionalism within the party.