The BDP lifted Batswana - Balopi

EDWARD BULE
Correspondent | Wednesday March 2, 2011 00:00

 

From the ululations, singing and dancing that greeted the arrival of former Member of Parliament for Francistown at the civic centre, it was clear that Patrick Balopi was the hero of the BDP faithful who packed the hall. Balopi first entered parliament in 1979, breaking the Botswana Peoples' Party (BPP) stranglehold on the town that dated back to Independence. Since then, the BDP has maintained a vice grip on what has now become Botswana's second city.

Giving a lecture on 'The History of the BDP' last Friday, Balopi, who is a former teacher, told the BDP faithful in the hall to be proud of the achievements of their party.

'It is a statement of fact and I am not (just) boasting,' said the man, who is the current Chairman of the BDP Council of Elders.

'When the BDP assumed government, our budget session took only three days because there was just no money to allocate. Now we have reserves'  Balopi's was the third in a series of countrywide lectures that form part of celebrations of BDP month as a precursor to the BDP's gold jubilee celebrations next year.

Giving some antecedents to the formation of the BDP in 1962, he paid tribute to Batswana chiefs who asked for British protection in the event of an invasion and annexation by either the Germans or the Boers.

Balopi also thanked Batswana chiefs for the creation of Crown Lands, which became a buffer between the Boers and Batswana. He characterised the refusal of the chiefs to allow prospecting for mines, even by the British, as a measure of foresight because if the colonizers had discovered minerals, they would have been reluctant to let go of the country, thus precipitating a possible liberation war.

Balopi said as the 'winds of change' blew through Africa, political parties were formed in Botswana to take over the administration of the country. He remembered somewhat begrudgingly that while Bakgatla regent, Pilane Mmusi, refused the BDP permission to be launched in Mochudi in 1962, the Botswana National Front was launched there in 1965.

By contrast, however, he remembered with a sense of joy that BDP launched its youth wing in Mochudi in 1977.

Balopi, who was a cabinet minister for 14 years, said that unlike opposition parties, the BDP was pragmatic and encouraged the spirit of voluntarism, making Self-Help one of its principles.

Again unlike opposition parties which preached revolution, he said, the BDP believed in evolution. According to Balopi, who joined the BDP in 1964, his party adopted realistic and achievable policies rather than foreign ideologies.

Balopi regretted the lack of documentation on the BDP and called upon historians, especially those in the party, to take up the challenge. He said it was high time the BDP held classes to induct members, especially the youth, on the history of the party.  He said that after the split of the party last year, educating people on the party had become imperative.

During question and comment time, speaker after speaker thanked the BDP central committee for having seen it fit to celebrate its party's golden jubilee.

Since last year, the BDP has made a number of publicity initiatives leading up to the climax next year. One such initiative is the wearing of party colours at the end of each month.