The two BPF factions, one led by former president Ian Khama’s family and the other by former Tati East Member of Parliament, Samson Moyo Guma have been battling for the soul of the BPF for months. The majority of those who are viewed to be sympathetic to Guma are in the National Executive Committee (NEC).
Mmegi has established that the warring parties met on Wednesday in Gaborone for a reconciliation meeting that was facilitated by former Directorate of Intelligence Services (DIS) director, Isaac Kgosi. Several reconciliation meetings have been held in recent weeks but sources have indicated that the warring parties took a significant step towards reconciliation at the Wednesday meeting. High ranking insiders have told Mmegi that the factions reached a consensus that they should fully reconcile. At the meeting it was also agreed that Biggie Butale should be reinstated as the president. Butale is aligned to Khama’s faction and has been serving suspension from the BPF since early last year following allegations that he sexually violated a student party activist. A month ago, he reinstated himself as the president but his move was reversed by the High Court. According to the source, another resolution of this week’s reconciliation meeting is that the suspensions of other BPF members should be lifted. “The NEC will soon call Butale for a meeting where the acting president Caroline Lesang will hand over the reins to him. Other suspended members will soon be notified that their respective suspensions have been lifted. Both factions agreed to start on a clean slate. Follow up reconciliation meetings will be held in due course,” a BPF insider told Mmegi.
