Unrepentant Marobela hits back

EDWARD BULE
Correspondent | Monday April 4, 2011 00:00

 

The unrepentant Marobela said, contrary to what the letter from the BPP said, the decision to expel him could not have been the result of a national executive committee (NEC) recommendation.  Marobela challenges the validity of the NEC meeting that allegedly recommended his expulsion.  According to Marobela, without him, the national treasurer nor the secretary general in attendance, there was no quorum for business to go ahead. But dismissing his argument, BPP national chairman Richard Gudu stated that the said NEC meeting was properly constituted because four out of a total of seven members attended, adding that although the secretary general was absent, he had sent an apology.

Marobela, who said he is not taking any legal action against his former party, avers that if he did, he would win hands down. Questioning the BPP's commitment to professionalism, he said it baffles him that a party that purports to believe in the rule of law does not feel compelled to institute a disciplinary hearing against a purported wrong-doer.

Marobela insists that his expulsion was to pre-empt his stepping down from the party leadership. He said after discovering that the BPP leadership was too divided over the issue of cooperation, he and the secretary general of the party, Shathiso Tambula had told a central committee meeting of their intention to step down. He said the party leadership 'begged' him not to do that as that would damage the party especially ahead of the Shashemooke by-election. Marobela further explained that it was agreed that an extraordinary conference would be held this month at which he and Tambula would step down. 

His adds that, part of the reason for his and the secretary general's stepping down was because, 'Gudu and Molapise have a way of making life difficult for other people. They are intolerant and very disorderly.'  Besides, Marobela says that he and some in the central committee understood the conference resolution to discuss cooperation with other parties to have included the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).  The second group, he says was constituted by those who felt the BPP should go it alone in the elections, while the third and last group involved those who interpreted the resolution to mean that the BPP could only work with the other opposition parties.

Contacted for comment, Tambula confirmed that indeed he and Marobela had given notice to step down. But he pointed out that he had wanted to step down so that he would have more time to attend to personal commitments and not because of differences with anybody in the central committee.

Marobela dismisses as 'nonsense' accusations that he had no mandate to meet with the BDP leadership in the name of the BPP. 'As leader of the party, I was empowered always to put feelers around. I did not need to be delegated. By the same token, some in the leadership indicated that they had had meetings with people in the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP). That is acceptable because they are leaders,' adds the unapologetic Marobela.

Marobela says that his willingness to consider the BDP as a possible ally was informed by revelations from BPP members that they did not trust the other opposition parties, citing loss of members to their cooperation partners in the past.

Asked what the way forward for him was now that he has been expelled, Marobela, who cut his political teeth in the BPP in the early 60s as a member of the youth wing before defecting to the Botswana National Front (BNF) and then to the BCP, replied: 'I have the option to associate with any other political party of my choice or just concentrate on my businesses.'

He concludes by issuing a stern warning to the BPP to desist from attacking him. Marobela told  his former colleagues that his silence is not a sign of cowardice but a measure of maturity on his part. Marobela, who holds the distinction of being the shortest serving substantive president of the BPP, was elected at an extraordinary conference in November 2009 after the unexpected resignation by Bernard Balikani.