Following the defeat of the BDP after almost 60 years in power, some commentators have rushed to the microphones and bemoaned the fall of one of Southern Africa’s liberation movements, thus elevating the BDP to political organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC), FRELIMO, PAC, SWAPO, ZAPU and ZANU. Well, I strongly disagree. My understanding of a liberation movement is that it is a subaltern political organisation leading a nationalist rebellion against internal colonialism and/or imperialism. In the case of Botswana, archival sources reveal that the BDP, the party that had ruled Botswana long before independence, was officially launched on February 28, 1962, as a counterweight to the nationalist Botswana Peoples Party (the BPP), which was seen by the colonial government (euphemistically called protectorate government) as too radical because of its ties with the ANC.
The BDP was formed by some African members of the colonial era Legislative Council (LegCo) whose members included the likes of Seretse Khama, Quett Masire, Goareng Mosinyi, AM Tsoebebe, Tsheko Tsheko, J. Gugushe and A. Maribe. Others who played a crucial role in the formation of the BDP were Moutlakgola Nwako, N. C. Molomo, Dabadaba Sedie, Amos Dambe and Benjamin Steinberg. Since some of these BDP leaders were in fact members of the LegCo between the time of its formation and the first general election in March 1965, the BDP was in fact treated as a de facto government, and was the incumbent party in the 1965 general elections. The LegCo, whose Speaker was one Dr Alfred Merriweather, was adjourned 'sine die', on November 19, 1964. The first general elections in Botswana were held on March 1, 1965, and on March 23, 1965, a new structure called the Legislative Assembly was inaugurated, but lo and behold, the Speaker of the ‘new’ Legislative Assembly is none other than the same Dr Alfred Merriweather, of the LegCo days, with Khama, previously a member of the Executive Committee (read inner cabinet) of the LegCo, in tow, as the Prime Minister of the Legislative Assembly and later on, as the President of the Republic of Botswana. As C. W. Gosset correctly argues, by commanding the support of the majority of the members of LegCo, and having the sympathy of the colonial government, the BDP became the ruling party without ever having fought an election, let alone waged a nationalist (liberation) struggle. One Louis Picard argues that after its formation in 1962, the BDP received unqualified support from the colonial administration and financial support from the influential European and Asian communities, which feared the more radical BPP from coming to power. But having said that, let me point out that I am well aware of the crucial role that both Khama and Masire played in the liberation of Southern Africa.
This role was, however, in the context of Botswana being a member of the Frontline States and the Organisation of African Unity, and not in the context of them being BDP leaders. In fact, it is true to say the BDP as a party did not know anything about what Khama and Masire were quietly doing behind the scenes, as this was considered strictly a state matter, and not a ruling party matter, and they did so without the knowledge, let alone the blessing of the BDP. But many thanks to Comrade Nonvula Mokonyane, the current First Deputy Secretary-General of the ANC, who clarified on one of South African television interview recently that it was in fact the members of the Botswana National Front (BNF) who aided and supported the ANC, including harbouring members of the UmKhonto We Sizwe, the ANC’s underground military wing. But not being the one to kick a man in the groin when he is down, I wish the BDP good health and a speedy recovery. Notwithstanding the fact that the BDP had over the years been captured by a motley group of ‘tenderpreneurs,’ there are still many men and women of good will in that party. Unfortunately for the BDP, it has no combat experience in the opposition party political trenches, and will most likely atrophy and wither away, and be relegated as an antiquity to be placed on the shelves in Botswana’s political museum.
