Bophirima debacle threatens opposition unity

The Alliance for Progressives (AP) has made it clear that it supports the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), while the Botswana People’s Party (BPP) and Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) have shown their support to the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).

Even on the ground at Bophirima ward, The Monitor observed that when the members are doing house-to-house campaigning for votes from the residents of that ward, members put on their different party colours. Therefore, the situation is indicative of the automatic collapse in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the by-elections. A letter dated March 19, 2022, written by AP deputy secretary-general, Edison Wotho reads: “Taking into cognisance our principles and deeply held values, inter alia integrity, fairness and democratic process, we yielded in favour of the BCP despite the fact of the strength of our potential candidate. We knew and understood that once we had withdrawn, the final decision was a matter of the internal process of the UDC, of which we are not a part and cannot impose our wish.