Is the BPP worth its salt? � In response to Takula Lenyatso
Correspondent | Friday December 9, 2016 15:01
It is not in my nature to respond to ideologically naked and pubescent statements but I felt compelled to do so in this instance in defence of Fidel Castro, socialism, and the unity of the UDC. This statement is neither an isolated incident nor a frank and honest criticism of Boko’s stance in celebrating the life and legacy of Castro. The statement is a culmination of many controversial incidents and statements by the BPP’s young turk. These political gymnastics and acrobatics of Lenyatso and the BPP must be confronted head-on in defence of principle and the legacy of Fidel Castro. It seems clearer by the day that the BPP cadres (mainly the ‘flat cap arrivalists’) have adopted a pernicious and reactionary marketing strategy in which its young cadres will provoke the mighty BNF and its leader to make newspaper headlines and in the process positioning their party in the public discourse. It doesn’t end there. The young folks have gone further and adopted a provoke-and-later-apologise strategy in which they provoke the BNF and after causing uproar, pen an apology to calm the storm.
For the record, I am a student of Marx and Lenin, and wholly subscribe to the ideal of open, frank and honest criticism even from within party ranks. Lenin characterises this open and frank criticism as one of the fundamental components of cadre discipline. Lenyatso in his latest onslaught on Cde Boko writes that “president Boko recognised Fidel Castro as his inspiration, and hailed the Commander as a hero. Duma Boko was wrong”. This is astonishing to say the least. Lenyatso betrays his already-in-doubt Pan Africanist credentials by denouncing the legacy of Fidel Castro. He comes across as a piecemeal reader of the Cuban Revolution and the role of Castro in Africa. I posit that Castro played a decisive role in assisting many Pan-African and Marxist oriented political formations at the height of decolonisation. Unlike Takula’s liberal’s friends who shunned liberation struggles waged by the peoples of Africa against colonial rule, Castro supported the struggle. He was an astute internationalist who valued solidarity. As a progressive, Castro rejected racism, imperialism and the exploitation of the African resources. Castro dared to confront mankind’s worst enemy - capitalism and exploitation. Surely, Castro passes the test of being a hero and an inspiration. Boko was correct to honour this stalwart. Lenyatso and the BPP depict an acute misreading of history and the contribution of Castro in the liberation of Africa. Who can forget the watershed and decisive cuito cuinavale victory in which thousands of Cuban lives were lost for the independence of Africa?
Lenyatso’s piecemeal critique on the legacy of Castro does not account for Castro’s active and practical involvement in the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. It is disappointing for a man of Lenyatso’s intellect to analyse Castro from a laissez-faire prism of human rights and democracy without appreciating the geo-political context under which the Cuban revolution was waged on. I wonder if Lenyatso is aware that western democracy is not the sole omnipotent system, which is God-given or inherently natural. The Cuban context required a tailor-made equitable system to address the injustices of fascist oppression, which oppressed the Cuban people for decades. Castro hated, with passion the people who presided over the murder of Sankara, Mondlane, Cabral and many heroes and heroines of the African struggle.
I must admit that the legacy of Castro is subject to many interpretations and misinterpretations. However, it is nerve wrecking for a member of a dinosaur Pan Africanist movement to delegitimise the role of Castro in defending human rights and supporting the people’s revolutions across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Castro is known for his contribution in fighting an evil system called apartheid and racism. Castro was a champion of the poor and he enormously assisted the peoples of Africa in areas such as health care and education. I suspect that even in Lenyatso’s native village, Castro’s footprints are visible in that Cuban doctors have served across the length and breadth of Botswana.
After reading Lenyatso’s diatribe I wondered what will comrades Motsamai, Matante, Mandela, Neto, Cabral, Mondlane, Machel, Garvey, Malcolm X and all other Pan-Africanist would have said if they were still alive. My guess was that they would have remarked; Is the BPP worth its salt? This question is an indictment on Lenyatso and the BPP leadership to answer and convince some of us to the contrary.
Their bona fides and commitment to regime change seems unsatisfactory. The silence of the BPP leadership and its inaction to put a leash on Lenyatso invites nausea and revulsion on my part. On the eve of Kalakamati by-elections, the same bandits pulled stunts and made some Judas Iscariot pronouncements which compromised the unity of the UDC ahead on an important by-election.
The silence of the Pan-Africans within the BPP in the midst of irresponsible and knee-jerk utterances made by Lenyatso remains a paradox! Without a doubt, an attack on the credentials and legacy of Fidel Castro is an attack on Pan Africanism (by extension the BPP). Lenyatso knows internal party processes in which he could have advanced his anti-Castro stance and persuaded the leadership to be indifferent on his death. Instead he engages in an egoist crusade to attack the leader of the BNF/UDC in the media and belittle the legacy of Castro. That cannot be constructive, honest and frank criticism as Lenin conceptualised cadre discipline. With this response Lenyatso (and your handlers, if any), be informed that we will meet eyeball to eyeball to defend the BNF and the unity of the UDC. This time around, your provoke-and-later-apologise strategy won’t stick. Is the BPP worth its salt- I wonder!!!
As progressives, we are advised by Chairman Mao to be always vigilant in the midst of ideologically impotent sections of the society such as Lenyatso. Without vigilance, these characters will pollute the rank and file of a mass based organisation and potentially derail the revolution. It is common cause that Lenyatso’s record in opposition politics is somewhat untidy and in suspect. I remember whilst at the University of Botswana, he was a member of the BMD. After realising that his lust for power and position will remain unconsummated within the BMD, he jumped ship to the BPP after some spell in the cold. Without any congress held, we learn that Lenyatso is now the president of the BPP Youth League!! How does one lead a youth league of a party that he has not even spent at least a year? Stuff of legends! We should not allow rented BDP mercenaries who masquerade as Pan Africanists to derail the UDC - the people’s project.
Lenyatso must know that we are aware that his political persuasions differ depending on his geographical location. Back home, I am told that he is famed to have played a leading role in the campaigns and subsequent victory of MP Biggie Butale. In Gaborone, he is a different political animal altogether. The question is why is the BPP leadership indifferent and unable or unwilling to reprimand Lenyatso? The silence of the BPP leadership in the midst of Lenyatso’s provocative behaviour is too loud to ignore.
Kago Mokotedi
Concerned BNF member, Gaborone