He also prophesied that the man would cause great strife in the party. Yes, he also prophesied that the opposition - the Botswana National Front (BNF) would fare even worse than it was at that time. Is Ngombe's prophecy being fulfilled?
The year 2008 marked the 16th year from the time the oracle made these prophesies, and that is the time when Ian Khama became president of both the country and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). Hardly a year after assuming presidency of the BDP, the ruling party found itself embroiled in conflict. The result was the formation of two camps - the A-team, which enjoyed Khama's support and Barata-Phathi, led by former Presidential Affairs Minister and former party strongman, Daniel Kwelagobe - whose zeal for the Barata-Phathi faction has since gone cold. The A-team were seen as the power wielders within the party, while the Barata-Phathi shouted "in defence of the party constitution". Something had to be done. So Khama took away all powers from BDP chairman Kwelagobe. No party central committee meetings would be held without him. He needed to go for the kill. Then Gomolemo Motswaledi, duly elected Secretary General of the Party, and a Barata- Phathi prince, offered himself as a sacrificial lamb by publicly attacking party lawyers, who were engaged by Khama, for publishing a press statement without his knowledge. This was at the peak of inner BDP strife, when the Barata-Phathi contended that Khama did not have powers to unilaterally suspend party members. Khama suspended him initially for 60 days pending a disciplinary hearing, effectively killing his ambitions of standing for the Gaborone Central constituency in 2009, and then after the hearing he suspended him for five years, thus destroying completely his dream of standing for election anytime before 2013. Motswaledi would later fail in court to have Khama's decision reversed as both the High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that the president was protected by the country's Constitution from any legal suit. Motswaledi's loss was certainly a Barata-Phathi loss as they were really the ones behind the suit. Following the court case they remained embittered especially that they still had to foot the bill for the case, said to be in the region of P1.2 million. Unlike their older colleagues in the Barata-Phathi, young members of the faction would not accept the status quo as they felt it encouraged tyranny. They believed that Khama had done both Motswaledi and the electorate a great disservice by denying him the right to stand for elections. So when nominations for Parliament were made, Botsalo Ntuane, Kabo Morwaeng and Sidney Pilane must have joined the opposition and nominated Motswaledi. His name was not approved and the three were slapped with suspension letters in which they were accused of the serious crime of sedition. That should send a clear message to all BDP followers.
