End of the road :: Mmegi Online

The story of troubles bedevilling the beleaguered Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has been told many times. But, the more the story is told, the fresher it tastes. In this no-holds-barred interview, we speak to the president of a UDC coalition partner, Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Dumelang Saleshando whose party seems to be on its way out of the opposition unity. Mmegi Staffer RYDER GABATHUSE writes that it will seemingly take a miracle to stop the BCP from leaving

From this week’s bare-knuckled interview with the fourth and longest-serving (2010-2022) BCP president, Saleshando, so far, to them the BCP story will not be shocking should they choose to bolt out of the tri-party coalition arrangement at a meeting scheduled for May 21, at a venue to be decided. He chronicles events that have created what he calls a ‘discomfort’ for the BCP to remain in a relationship that has become a far cry from what it was promised to be.

In particular, it is the relationship between the BCP and the Botswana National Front (BNF) that has thawed and seems destined to reverse all the gains of the UDC. There seems to be no trouble between the BCP and the other weaker partner, the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP). The BCP is a splinter party from the BNF after disagreements with the BNF’s founding father Kenneth Koma in 1998 over his leadership style.

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