Masisi cracks down on BDP
President will deal with dissidents upon arrival from USA Masisi plans to end possible two centers of power in the BDP The president is concerned about some foreign behaviour within the central committee and cabinet- Kentse
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has allegedly vowed to crack the whip within the ruling Botswana Democratic Party ( BDP) when he returns from New York, USA, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Masisi left on Monday this week to attend the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, which runs from September 21 to 27, 2021.
This publication has learned that Masisi declared the war against dissidents when he met with the BDP National Youth Executive Committee ( NYEC) on Sunday. The president is concerned that some Ministers, MPs and Councillors are fuelling discontent in the party. According to sources, Masisi has declared that upon his return from USA, dissidents will know and understand him better when he starts dealing with those that are sowing seeds of discord in the ruling party.
The meeting between NYEC and Masisi was to discuss the state of the economy, unemployment especially among the youth, government performance and the party’s delivery on its 2019 election promises, as well as the state of affairs within the party. NYEC is said to have been worried especially by the working relation between cabinet members and the BDP’s backbench. While the party has for some time been downplaying internal divisions especially at leadership level, information gathered by the Botswana Newspaper has revealed that all is not well with the BDP’s top brass. Things are said to have turned sour between the president and his all- time close ally and trusted member of the Central Committee Mpho Balopi, who serves as the party’s Secretary General. Balopi has maintained that he has a cordial and clean relationship with the president and vice president Slumber Tsogwane who also doubles as the party chairman.
According to sources, the relationship is now strained and the president and his newfound close allies are going all out to dislodge Balopi. The plan allegedly is to target those close to Balopi within the central committee, cabinet, backbench and councils where he enjoys support. The threat by Masisi has caused anxiety within the party following the meeting and could also thwart efforts by opposition parties to get support from BDP MPs in the Motion of No Confidence expected to be tabled during the State of the Nation Address scheduled for November this year. The opposition is said to have been eyeing support from disgruntled BDP MPs especially from the backbench after
they put a spirited fight to express displeasure by voting against some of the government Bills presented during the just- ended Winter Parliament session. According to sources within NYEC who attended the meeting, the president has expressed concern over the leaking of information by democrats, as well as the lack of respect and unity. The stern warning uttered by Masisi has already sent shockwaves within the party and has created distrust among party members on fears that they might become targets by virtue of association to those deemed to be encouraging disorder and belittling the president.
Masisi’s plans according to sources, is to get rid of possible two centres of power within the party. The fear within the party is that since the president has so much power at his disposal, no one knows what type of approach he will unleash in his quest to instill discipline.
There have also been growing reports of factions within the party which threaten the party stability ahead of its elective congress. However, news within BDP corridors is that the president also plans to reshuffle all subcommittees of the central committee.
So far, the president has reshuffled the communications committee which falls under the Strategy Committee. The next stop is said to be the Disciplinary Committee. Chairman of the BDP Sub Committee on Communications and International Relations Kagelelo Kentse declined to discuss issues of the Sunday meeting with the media. He told this publication in an interview that the meeting was an internal and indoor discussion between the President and “our youth wing”. Kentse stated that many issues were raised which cannot be shared with the media.
“But I can confirm that the President is worried about some very foreign behaviour inside cabinet and the central committee by some senior leaders but the president assured our youth that order will be restored,” said Kentse.