Why BDP infighting may not end in F/town

RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer | Friday March 23, 2007 00:00

Although the official line reveals that peace that has long been elusive has now been found, there are fears that the differences that have been rocking the party might continue.

Last weekend's attempt by the BDP leadership to reconcile the warring factions in the three Francistown constituencies of Francistown East, South and West was viewed by some as a positive gesture of concern. But not necessarily a gesture that has returned peace.

Perhaps, what reinforces doubts in the minds of some about the return of peace is the fact that last Saturday's meeting, held at the Setlalekgosi Junior Secondary School, to reconcile the warring factions, was an umpteenth attempt to bring the elusive peace.
The BDP factions in Francistown, like anywhere else in the country, better identify themselves along the party's traditional factions of Kedikilwe-Kwelagobe and Nkate-Merafhe.

The resistance shown by the party operatives in the three Francistown constituencies to disband factions, even after the party leadership had spoken against factions, speaks volumes for itself. In a way, it casts aspersions on the much-touted peace.

The Francistown-West constituency has a longer history of bitter infighting than any of the three. Here, history shows that after the 1999 general election, bitter factional war broke out between the area MP, Tshelang Masisi, and a councillor, Peter Ngoma who, by then, was the city Mayor.

The duo and their supporters have never known peace until the 2004 party primaries, which were also very stormy. Masisi won the party primaries but, because of certain identified irregularities, the party ordered a re-run, which he also won convincingly. Whilst Ngoma belongs to the main faction of Nkate-Merafhe, his rival is associated with the marginalised Kedikilwe-Kwelagobe axis.

Then, almost every week the party leadership was called to put off political fires burning here, to no avail. Ngoma wielded a lot of power as the city Mayor and regional chairman. BDP members listened to him and, to some extent, more than they did to the area MP, leaving Masisi's supporters green with envy in the process.

So the fight went on, leaving on a trail of damage in its wake.

In the South, which was a new constituency in the last elections, the incumbent MP, Maoto, and his losing challenger, Wynter Molotsi, fought bitterly during and after the party primaries. It will take sometime before the duo and their supporters fully reconcile.
They talk to us and we listen to them as they speak at various party fora. Like in Francistown West, if Ngoma would challenge Massy or Molotsi challenging Maoto, that would sure spark another factional war.

With the BDP primaries just a few months away, another round of bitter factional war is likely to emerge.

In the East, the factional war is generally limited to a few councillors who battle for the control of the Francistown City Council (FCC). Except for the differences of the civic leaders, Francistown East has been quiet.

The fights in the East can be traced to the recent near fights between councillor Sam Masunga and Mayor Buti Billy. The bigger picture is that although the duo attacked each other, they enjoyed the backing of their groups as well.

From the way councillors interpreted the clash between Masunga and Billy, it was evident that the party still has a long way to go to effectively heal the rifts in Francistown.

Almost every full council meeting becomes a show of factional fights. To a large extent, this has been affecting the council proceedings, as the two groups would concentrate on their fights instead of the business at hand.