We will expel Boko - Ntime

LERATO MALEKE
Correspondent | Wednesday August 29, 2012 00:00

 

Two former stalwarts of the opposition Botswana National Front who were expelled from the party last May say they intend to expel BNF president Duma Boko from the party.

Gabriel Kanjabanga and Lemogang Ntime, who have always maintained that their expulsion was 'unconstitutional,' say the BNF has been dying a slow death since the founding of the tripartite Umbrella for Democratic Change.  'What is happening is that a new party has been formed to swallow up the BNF,' said Kanjabanga.

He added that they had addressed 67 rallies in the name of the party across the country since their controversial expulsion.The two were speaking in an interview after a press conference they had called failed twice on the same day because the media did not turn up.

Their first press conference was aborted yesterday when only one journalist showed up for it at Gaborone Hotel at 9:00 am, forcing them to postpone it to 2:00 pm. However, the second attempt also failed, resulting in the tenacious men calling another press conference for 10:00 am at the same venue tomorrow.

The second attempt failed inspite of rationalisation that journalists had gone to a parallel press conference called by Botswana Congress Party at the President Hotel and would subsequently repair to Gaborone Hotel. Only three journalists had turned up for the second attempt.

 The two men were expelled by a special congress of the BNF meeting Mahalapye in May this year. Nevertheless, they have steadfastly maintained that they do not recognise their expulsion because it was 'unconstitutional.' 'At least we are happy that the BNF members are now pulling out from the umbrella as we warned them,' said Ntime in reference to individual councillors who have been leaving the party recently.

Incidentally, a texted message reached the mobile phone of this reporter as she wrote this story in the afternoon yesterday: 'We BNF councillors of North West District, after careful consideration and consultation with members of BNF in our region, we have come to our conclusion that we can no longer afford to be part of the umbrella project.  'We love our organisation so much. Umbrella has been hijacked and made irrelevant. Comrades let us give our party first priority, and give our party respect.' At Gaborone Hotel, Ntime had held forth, warning of 'a bombshell' that would explode on Thursday. 'We are going to expel Duma Boko from the party,' Ntime said.

Asked how that was possible since they were no longer members of the BNF, the two men insisted that they rejected their expulsion and that they would elaborate on Thursday. Meanwhile, Mmegi spotted Kagiso Ntime in the foyer of Gaborone Hotel at the time of his father's aborted press conference yesterday.

Also a former member of the BNF who resigned from the factious party in February this year, Kagiso defected to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party in the same month.