The paper is going to be called 'The Patriot', sources have said. The paper is said to be owned by BDP secretary general, Mpho Balopi, Tati East Member of Parliament (MP) Guma Moyo, Choppies Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ramachandran Ottapath and Thapelo Olopeng, a close friend of President Ian Khamas. The newspaper will be published on Sundays. The broadsheet paper is going to be a 24 to 32-page publication costing between P10 to P12. However, Bapasi Mphusu, who was once the director of Broadcasting Services, has been named as the managing editor of The Patriot. Although sources have revealed that the paper comes ready in this battlefield armed with a P8 million in investments, Mphusu remained tight-lipped on the issue. On the editorial team the paper has hired former Ministry of Agriculture public relations officer (PRO) Nathaniel Motshabi as the Editor and a Mmegi political reporter as deputy editor. Former High Court spokesperson Janet Mudongo has also been roped in as marketing manager for the Commerce Park based newspaper.
Olopeng an ex-soldier and one of President Khama's confidantes, is allegedly the BDP's new choice candidate to replace Deputy Speaker Pono Moatlhodi' as Tonota South MP. Ramachandran owns a chain of Choppies supermarkets nationwide of which former president Festus Mogae is the chairman. Moyo is an active BDP legislator.
