Khama is expected to address his tribesmen in Serowe tomorrow after a surprise appearance before a magistrate court in Gaborone last week. He is facing several criminal charges including unlawful possession of firearms. Khama is denying the charges and says that they are part of persecution by President Mokgweetsi Masisi. However, Khama, a BPF patron, comes to Botswana at a time the party is experiencing enormous politico-legal drama. Among others, the drama recently escalated when three BPF activists took the party’ secretary-general (SG), Lawrence Ookeditse, its president, Mephato Reatile, and the BPF, respectively before the Francistown High Court. The trio asked the court to declare that the decision of Reatile to remove the BPF from the membership of the opposition coalition, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), was an unlawful violation of the party’s constitution and was therefore null and void. Last year, the BPF also experienced its fair share of court drama. The court drama led to the expulsion of its founding president, Biggie Butale, and another prominent figure, Moiseraela Goya, from the party for gross misconduct.
After the duo was expelled from the BPF, they formed a splinter party, the Botswana Republican Party (BRP). The BPF is also an off-shoot of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) that was formed after the acrimonious breakdown of the relationship between Masisi and his predecessor, Khama. The demons afflicting the BPF threaten to reverse the gains it made when it won three constituencies (Serowe North, Serowe West and Serowe South) at the 2019 General Election shortly after its formation. Of the three Serowe constituencies, the BPF has only one confirmed prospective parliamentary candidate; Baratiwa Mathoothe of the Serowe North constituency. The BPF is yet to identify parliamentary candidates for the Serowe South and Serowe West constituencies because of misunderstandings arising from how the party conducted its primaries. The three Serowe constituencies are considered the strongholds of the BPF mainly due to the influence of Khama. The former president is the son of the founding president of Botswana and the BDP, Sir Seretse Khama, and is also Kgosikgolo of Bangwato.
