The rise and fall of BDP
Staff Writer | Tuesday November 5, 2024 14:51
The advent of self-rule saw the leader of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Seretse Khama become the first Prime Minister of Botswana after his party had a landslide victory (about 80%) at the elections. As Prime Minister, Seretse Khama was head of government, and he reported to the British Governor, who was the head of state. This dispensation ended in 1966 when Botswana attained full independence, and Seretse Khama assumed the position of Head of State or President. In 1969 Botswana held its second one-person one-vote general election, which was the first poll since restored independence. While the result was a strong victory for the BDP, which won 24 of the 31 elected seats, its share of the vote at 68% was down from about 80% it had received in the previous poll. Also, compared to the previous poll, there had been a significant decline in the total number of citizens who had turned out to cast ballots. Seventy-seven candidates contested the election. The BDP put up a full slate of 31 candidates, while the Botswana National Front (BNF), which was contesting for the first time, had 21.
The Botswana People's Party (BPP) had 15, and the Botswana Independence Party (BIP) had nine. There was a single independent candidate. The BDP was led by Seretse Khama, the BPP by Philip Matante and the BIP by Motsamai Mpho. During that election, Kgosi Bathoen II Gaseitsewe of the BNF defeated then Vice President Ketumile Masire in Kanye, resulting in the latter returning to Parliament as a specially elected member. The first time the BDP experienced a serious electoral decline was in 1994. The BNF tripled its presence in Parliament by winning 13 parliamentary seats including all four in the capital, Gaborone. At the time the party was riddled by factionalism between Barata Phathi led by the party chairman the late Peter Mmusi and the Secretary General Daniel Kwelagobe on the one, and on the other hand, Big Five, led by the late Lt General Mompati Merafhe. The BDP treated the decline in their electoral fortunes as a defeat because they were not used to having such a large number of MPs in opposition benches. Despite pronouncements of unity and peace in the party factionalism persisted in the BDP.
The late former President Masire’s inability to unite the party was one of the reasons why he had to retire as leader of the party in 1998 after being president for 18 years. It was precisely because of the rift in the party that Masire’s successor, Festus Gontebanye Mogae, roped in Ian Khama from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), as an outsider who had a following by virtue of being Kgosikgolo of one of the largest tribes in the country, as his vice president when he took over in 1998. In 1999 Mogae led the BDP to the general elections. Although the schism in the party was still there, Mogae managed to turn around the electoral fortunes of the party mainly because of the split that took place in the main opposition party, the BNF, giving rise to the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). The results were as follows; BDP: 33; BNF; 6; BCP: 1. The BDP cruised through the 2004 elections as the BNF was regrouping and the BCP was experiencing teething problems.
The results of that election were a resounding victory for the ruling party. The results were as follows; BDP: 44; BNF: 12, and BCP: 1. The number of constituencies had been increased from 40 to 57. In 2008 Mogae’s second term came to an end and made way to Ian Khama. Even with Khama at the helm of the party factionalism in the BDP was still rampant. The factions kept on mutating depending on the circumstances. By this time the Big 5 had been replaced by the A Team led by Merafhe and Jacob Nkate. Khama’s strong-arm tactics to suppress the rifts within the party made the situation worse and generated antipathy towards him. His differences with some members of his party, including some members of the party’s central committee led to the breakup which resulted in the formation of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) in 2010. Before the formation of the BMD, Khama had just led the BDP to victory at the general elections held in 2009. It was a white-wash with the BDP getting 45 seats in Parliament, the BNF 6, while BCP got 4 and Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) got 1, and one independent. Buoyed by this victory, Ian Khama tried to tighten his stranglehold over the party.
In 2009 the BDP elected a new leadership collective at its national congress. A new crop of leadership mainly Young Turks, including the late Gomolemo Motswaledi, Wynter Molotsi, Kabo Morwaeng, and others, were elected to top positions in the Central Committee of the party. Apparently, Khama didn’t want any of that. He had his preferred candidates who did not make the cut at the Congress. He then frustrated these young ones and made it difficult for them to work to the point that Motswaledi was suspended from the party. Motswaledi and others decided to break away from the BDP and formed the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) in 2010.
The inaugural congress of the BMD took place on May 2, 2011, during which the late Gomolemo ‘Sir G’ Motswaledi was elected as its first leader. Botsalo Ntuane, then-Gaborone West South constituency MP and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, assumed the role of party Vice President. As fate would have it in 2011 Khama had to deal with a nation-wide protracted civil servant strike which paralysed services in the country. The strike solidified ties and solidarity amongst all civil service unions. The unions received sympathy from other non-public sector unions and some sections of the general public and the working class in particular, including non-unionised workers. The unions then entered into a strategic alliance with the fledgling opposition parties with the view to giving them support, materially, financially, and otherwise, and the singular aim to defeat the BDP at the forthcoming polls in 2014. The unions’ condition was that the opposition parties should unite and work together. That is how the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) came into being. By the time the elections took place the UDC comprised the BNF, BMD, and Botswana BPP. The strategy yielded results. Khama ate humble pie. The BDP suffered the worst electoral decline in their history. For the first time in the history of elections in Botswana the popular vote of the BDP dipped below 50%.
The ruling party got 46.5%, the UDC, 30%, while the BCP received 20.4%. In terms of parliamentary seats, the ruling party got 37 seats in parliament, the UDC got 17 and BCP, 3. And then came the 2019 general elections when Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, against expectation, cleaned the floor with the opposition as BDP romped to victory with 38 seats in parliament, UDC with 15; Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), 3, and one for Alliance for Progressives (AP). The BPF was a breakaway from the BDP, being a new party led by the former president, Ian Khama. The BDP’s popular vote bounced back to above 50%, 52.6% to be specific.
The BDP’s emphatic victory was attributed to antipathy towards Khama who was perceived as someone who wanted to “rule from the grave”.