BCP committed to opposition unity
Mpho Pheko | Monday March 21, 2022 06:00
Before we share the resolutions, we wish to state that the Botswana Congress Party is committed to the collaboration of opposition parties in Botswana to unseat the BDP. We, however, strongly believe that this cooperation should be based on shared values, in particular, the best interests of Botswana, democracy, rule of law and mutual respect.
1). It is our wish that members of the cooperating parties of UDC, including the BNF, will desist from speaking as some now do about the UDC constitution and democracy in the coalition. No leader, and no party, that disrespects the constitution, democracy, its partners and its members, is fit to lead.
2). The BCP has fought long and hard within the UDC, compromised and sacrificed much, to preserve the UDC, and to convince our partners to respect the basic principles of governance, democracy and justice, without which a political organisation cannot survive as a credible and viable force for meaningful change of government. We have also exercised utmost restraint and patience in the face of serious dereliction of duty, unilateralism and indiscipline by no less an authority than the UDC president, Duma Boko. All of these practices, continue to hurt the UDC, and by extension the BCP. Bophirima ward is therefore symbolic of greater problems of deficits of leadership, bad governance, poor democratic practices and injustices meted against the coalition partners.
3. We now wish to state the facts in relation to Bophirima ward;
a) The UDC NEC has not met to discuss the Bophirima ward candidacy. The UDC president, Boko, has spurned all efforts to convene a NEC meeting to discuss the ward despite conflicting positions regarding the party that must produce the candidate. Basic governance principles dictate that even where no differences exist, the NEC should formally affirm both the partner that produces the candidate. Boko, has instead, chosen to unilaterally impose the Botswana National Front (BNF) and its candidate on the Bophirima ward.
b) Bophirima ward was assigned to the BCP to manage in the 2019 general election cycle as the letter of 18/04/2019, co-signed by the constituency chairpersons of the BCP and the BNF shows. This allocation precedes the departure of the BMD.
Following Mankie Sekete’s defection from the BMD to the BNF, the BCP acceded to a request by the BNF to let her stand on condition that the ward would revert to the BCP in 2024. This was not a cession of the ward to the BNF nor was Sekete allowed to stand because she had won a BMD primary election. Consistent to our principles, the BCP gave way to a woman candidate who was also a nominated councillor, not an incumbent councillor for the ward. As the party that is assigned responsibility to manage Bophirima ward, the BCP is entitled to decide on the candidate to contest the looming by-election on behalf of the UDC.
c) Since no UDC NEC meeting has been convened to deliberate on the candidacy for Bophirima ward, the unilateral announcement of Sekete as the UDC candidate for the ward is gross abuse of power. As a matter of fact, the UDC president has not been available for NEC meetings since the UDC NEC meeting of July 2021 held in Palapye, but he has continued to unilaterally make decisions on the behalf of the UDC and its partners.
d) Boko’s unilateral decision on Bophirima ward follows similar other unilateral decisions to allocate Metsimotlhabe and Lentsweletau to the Alliance for Progressives (AP) in the recent by-elections in a barely concealed attempt to set the AP and the BCP against each other. Though the BCP was never consulted on the allocations, in the spirit of collaboration and fostering stronger relations within the opposition, the BCP leadership and activists campaigned with the AP candidates in the two wards. The consistency with which Boko takes wards from the BCP betrays a deliberate strategy to annihilate the BCP. This wicked agenda is enabled by Boko’s continued abuse of the Transitional Clause of the UDC constitution; in turn, suspending the protection the substantive constitution accords members. This further allows him to arrogate to himself powers even this transitional clause does not accord him. From the BCP perspective, this is raw dictatorship.
4. Accordingly, at its Emergency Meeting of 12th March 2022, the Central Committee of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) resolved to contest the Bophirima Ward by-election in its own name and colours. This decision is not, as might seem at face value, simply about fighting for a ward. There are more fundamental issues at stake, in particular, the primacy of honest and competent leadership, governance, democracy, justice and the very character of the UDC. 5. The BCP rejects, in the strongest possible terms, the assertion that Sekete is a duly nominated UDC candidate for Bophirima ward, and everything it represents, namely, illegality, selfish and reckless partisanship, as well as autocratic tendencies. The central committee has taken the decision not to legitimise this lawless and reckless act by the UDC president and the UDC publicity secretary, and to henceforth push back against all acts of authoritarianism within the UDC. We also wish to speak without fear or let in defence of the ideals that compelled the BCP to join the UDC.
6. The central committee’s decision on Bophirima ward is a turning point in the BCP’s determination to fight for a constitutional order, good governance, internal democracy and the very character and essence of the UDC. As things stand, the following are the attributes that define the UDC under Boko: a) The party does not respect its own constitution: The UDC has operated under the transitional clause since 2010. Boko has stood on the way of all efforts to convene the Inaugural UDC congress. The congress will bring the substantive clauses of the UDC constitution to life; legitimise leadership and accord members and partners protection from a wayward leader who is tempted to abuse power. We are worried that the UDC president speaks about the UDC constitution in ways that suggest it was a fraud from the beginning, that it was never intended to be respected. We know better. His position is informed by the often-repeated illusion that the BNF (in effect Boko) is the natural leader of the UDC. This is not democracy or good governance. The reality is that Boko is threatened by the UDC constitution and conference because these will put to an end to the lawlessness that allows him to make decisions alone and threaten his position as president of the UDC. b) The party is undemocratic: Nothing is more undemocratic than the failure to respect the constitution of an organisation and the right of members to elect their own leaders. The determination by the UDC president to make decisions alone is therefore an aggravation of an already grave assault on democracy. c) The UDC is not making its case to the nation: On its current trajectory, the UDC is not offering a value proposition to Batswana. Nor is it engaged with the issues that trouble Batswana. It operates like a movement that wants power on the back of the deficiencies of the ruling party rather than the strength of its offering. A leader who is concerned with subverting the party constitution and democracy to hold onto power distracts the UDC from making its case.
7. The central committee took the decision to have a BCP candidate stand in Bophirima ward in its name and colours to mark the beginning of a resolute stand against unilateralism and dictatorship in the UDC.
MPHO PHEKO* is the BCP publicity and information secretary