Stop the internecine bickering

| Friday May 24, 2013 00:00

It is a cool afternoon at Goora-Montshiwa Freedom Squire in Kanye and the skies are blue. The stage is set for the launch of Botswana's fastest growing political party, the BCP. It is not only about the party here, but in the centre of all these events is the man who will from now on carry the image of the party in this opposition hinterland.

The character in the play here is Kentse Rammidi and he is set with all the costumes and props to play his part here in the drama of Botswana's political stage. This location is very strategic because it is the meeting point of Kanye parliamentary constituencies.

This is a big event indeed, and it is attended by several hundreds. The organisation of the event is very impressive and one would realise that a reasonable financial injection has been made for this political meeting.There are two people directing the ceremony, and they call Lotty Manyepetsa to the stage. The young fellow dedicates most of his time on stage to noting the achievements and strides that the BCP has made so far at the expense of the BNF.

He notes that in the crowd there are three Secretary Generals, Rammidi from the BDP, Akanyang Magama from the BNF and the current BCP Secretary General Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang. After a short while, the MC indicates that in the crowd are several BNF young girls trying to disrupt the BCP rally. There is a significant number of BNF members in the crowd clearly identified by their black and yellow party colours. The BDP is also showing its presence through its uniformed members at this event. Some senior BDP members present here include Col.

Fairbridge Pule (retired) who currently holds the position of Vice Chairman of Ngwaketse District Council. Another notable character from the BDP is Taolo Moshaga who is on a serious information gathering mission.There was something sinister here about the way the MCs were drilled on introducing the different speakers and groups.

The next on stage was a choir from Mabiletsa's Kgatleng East. It was introduced as a choir from the former BNF Vice President's constituency. After that was Tiny Kojane who was introduced as the former member of the BNF Central Committee. She goes on stage and immediately goes for the BNF jugular vein, reminding Bangwaketse that their late chief (Bathoen) must rest in his grave knowing that that the party that he once led is equally dead.

Almost at the end of her speech, she attacks the BDP's water policy, particularly the envisaged drawing of water from Lesotho Highlands. She goes on to say that the BCP would build dams. A little while later, it is Akanyang Magama who begins his more focused speech by reminding the crowd of the objective of the afternoon's gathering - the launch of Kentse Rammidi whom he desribes as the arch ambassador of the BCP, and the launch of the party itself.

His attack on the BNF was more diplomatic and not as outright as that of the previous speakers. He refers to the BNF as a party that goes around in circles like the smoke of dagga ('BNF e dikologa golo go le gongwe fela jaaka mosi wa motokwane'). He invested his time in attacking the policies of the ruling party and blaming them for failure to get a working manufacturing industry in Botswana.

He is armed with information and figures. 'For a country to be progressive, it has to have at least 20% of its manufacturing industry running,' he says. 'In Botswana, it is less than 5% and it is sad to see that the current government cannot harness local raw materials to build a vibrant industry.'

When Vain Mamela got onto the stage, he wasted less time in criticism of the BNF and began by rubbishing President Ian Khama's poverty eradication strategies. He questions the policy, particularly in the area of backyard gardening and beekeeping. He emphasised that there is no way a rabbit keeping programme can be successful when there is no abattoir for slaughering rabbits (Batswana ba tlaa rua bommutla ba bo ba ba isa kae ka gore ga gona BMC ya bone?).

He goes on to say that to defeat poverty, the government should concentrate on getting the BMC running again to allow Batswana to sell their cattle. However, he allows himself to fall into the temptation of chopping a little branch from the BNF at the close of his good speech.

Bonnie Kepadisa, a member of the BNF who defected from the BDP with Rammidi, was not amused by that kind of rhetoric from BCP speakers who attacked his party relentlessly. 'I expect the BCP to attack the BDP and not us,' he said. 'I am the former Chairman of the BDP in this constituency. I worked under Rammidi and can't believe what he is doing right now.

I want to believe that he is being used by those who have resorted to the divide and rule strategy inside the BDP.The BNF has only two councillors in this constituency and these attacks are not going to help them in any way. Come 2014, the BCP will not even score one councillor in this constituency if they continue to attack us.'Apparently his views echo those of many BNF members in the constituency. The level of animosity between these two parties here can only be described as 'intense.'

The entire political rally was characterised by verbal attacks on the BNF by the BCP. Regardless of the differences between these political parties, one fundamental aspect that they both need to come to terms with is that they are both opposition parties. That sets them apart from the common enemy that is the ruling party. The BCP should exercise restraint and tone down the use of verbal attacks on its fellow opposition party. in this regard, the same goes for the BNF because it is equally guilty of the same crime, having thrown the same stones before.

Political intolerance at any level has no place in our society. Borrowing from a military analogy, this is purely blue on blue. Blue on blue is when soldiers of the same army turn their guns on each other. The results are often catastrophic. Those of us who have our hearts all out for opposition politics want to experience Blue on Red encounters. The public must acknowledge that the two parties have differences and their choice at the polling booth should revolve around these parties and others in the opposition realm in order to bring effective political change in Botswana.

The ultimate goal is a change of government which the electorate has a right to exercise in our democracy and under our constitution.