MP Gaborone set to drop bombshell?

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Tuesday November 2, 2010 00:00

Gaborone was expected to hand in his resignation letter to the BNF yesterday but a party member said the legislator decided to address his last meeting in the constituency. The meeting will be held at Magwana Hall at which the MP is expected to drop the bombshell so he can rejoin the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). 

Another source revealed that Gaborone has already written to BDP president Ian Khama, reapplying for membership.  The BNF member said the BDP has for a long time been waiting for Gaborone to tender his resignation to the BNF.  He said Gaborone, who has been holding talks with the BDP, held a similar meeting with BNF members in Tlokweng on Thursday where he announced his pending move. 

He revealed that Gaborone could have resigned on Tuesday last week but was advised to consult further with party members. He said Gaborone, who is a member of the Batlokwa Royal family, has been consulting widely in Tlokweng in the past three months.

The reliable source also revealed that even some BNF councillors in Tlokweng might follow Gaborone because they are not happy with the manner in which he was treated by the BNF. He said Gaborone was treated as an outcast in the BNF and is always labelled 'moDomkrag'.  He added that the BNF members have made life unbearable for Gaborone.  'He was never welcome.'

Gaborone joined the BNF from the BDP where he was just an ordinary member. In the past, he was accused of holding dual membership of the BNF and BDP.

The party member said their one BNF MP and a former councillor did not pay their monthly subscriptions to the party because they wanted to sabotage the previous central committee, which Gaborone served in a vice president. The BNF member said after he left the central committee, Gaborone also stopped paying his monthly subscriptions, and when he was ordered to pay, he demanded that the defaulting MP pay his outstanding arrears first. 

Gaborone became leader of the opposition in Parliament after last year's general election. But he lost that post when the newly formed Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) came up with more MPs, and BMD's Botsalo Ntuane assumed the position. This year Gaborone wanted to contest the BNF presidency, but he withdrew from the race as he felt the campaign had turned dirty. Gaborone also said he feared an outbreak of violence if he defeated Duma Boko, the new BNF leader.  He accused Boko's supporters of resorting to war talk. Gaborone's relationship with the BNF leadership has been strained since then. Prior to joining active politics, Gaborone served as the chief executive officer of the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC).

He first made it to Parliament in 2004 with a landslide victory. But last year he won the constituency with a reduced majority.

Gaborone told Mmegi last week that he had not quit the BNF. Yesterday Gaborone's mobile phone was off and he could not be reached for comment.

BNF spokesman Moeti Mohwasa said Gaborone has not informed them that he intends to leave the party.  'There has not been any official communication between him and the party. We have just read about his pending move in newspapers. We still consider him to be our member,' Mohwasa asserted.

BDP officials have also denied knowledge about his pending move. Were he to move, Gaborone will deal a big blow to the BNF as the party's representation will be reduced to five MPs - the same number as the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). This will leave BMD, with six MPs, safe to stay on as leader of opposition. Talk has been BNF reclaim the leader of the opposition position, despite leadership's denials.

On the other hand, Gaborone's defection would be a morale-booster for the BDP.  This is in light of the fact that two MPs - Patrick Masimolole and Phillip Makgalamele - have re-trekked to the BDP.