Analyst encourages UDC partners to bury the hatchet

FRANCISTOWN: Political analyst, Adam Mfundisi has urged parties in the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) to urgently resolve their differences.

The UDC is a tri-party coalition of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Botswana National Front (BNF) and Botswana Peoples Party (BPP).

Mfundisi explained that it is important for parties in the UDC to reconcile in order for them to maintain competitiveness in the country’s political landscape. He was reacting to BCP president Dumelang Saleshando’s press conference which was held this week. Mfundisi is a lecturer in political and administrative studies at the University of Botswana (UB).

“In my humble submission, UDC problems and difficulties have to be dealt with decisively for a sustainable opposition. Competitive politics is a virtue rather than a vice. It is critical for political consolidation. Therefore, the parties that make the UDC must resolve their differences as a matter of urgency,” Mfundisi added.

The UB lecturer is not even surprised by Saleshando’s utterances at the press briefing. According to him, out of the utterances and statements made at the UDC presser two weeks ago, the BCP leader was right to present his party’s side of the story on issues affecting the formation.

“I don’t fault the BCP leadership for holding a presser to report on the central committee (CC) meeting and discuss issues pertaining to the current affairs in the UDC. Truth always liberates. It’s a virtue rather than a vice in political life and beyond,” he said. In fact, the political analyst believes that the BCP leader showed political maturity by laying bare challenges in the UDC during his media address.

“It is politically important to expose differences in order for deliberations and resolutions to take place. Strategic leadership demands ethical and visionary leadership. Strategic leaders confront problems and admit difficulties and differences in order to develop effective strategies to resolve them. And, ethical leadership demands recognition of the existence of potential problems and admit fault on their part. People respect and develop trust on truthful leaders,” Mfundisi told Mmegi.

He also stated that differences in the UDC were bound to come to the fore in the long run. He was however quick to point out that the growing tension between the BNF and BCP should be worrisome to the rank-and-file of UDC because they can lead to severe instability of the coalition.

“The bitter divorce which occurred in the past has also not been adequately addressed,” he said.

The BCP is a splinter party from the BNF. Before the 2019 general election, the UDC formation looked intact and the BNF welcomed the BCP wholeheartedly into the coalition.The campaigns were launched with a semblance of unity of purpose. But Mfundisi points out that there were still some reservations about the relationship between Duma Boko and Saleshando.

“This is in part explained by Boko’s dominance of the resources of the UDC and use of air assets,” he averred. According to him, the bitter rivalry between the BCP and the BNF members has manifested itself in recent months, resulting in acrimonious exchanges in the media particularly social platforms. He explained that the UDC leadership failed to call both the BCP and the BNF to order, basically sending a wrong message to the warring members.

“Eventually, it culminated in the CC meeting and subsequent press conference where the BCP leadership was not present. Boko sent salvos albeit indirectly to the BCP leadership. He failed to acknowledge differences and acrimonious relationship amongst UDC leadership. He pointed to the participation of Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) leadership as indication of unity and that the apparent absence of the BCP leadership was of no consequence,” he said.

Mfundisi pointed out that the BCP remains a vital cog in the UDC and cannot be wished away. In his press conference, Saleshando accused other parties in the UDC of sabotaging and dealing with the BCP in bad faith.

Although he reaffirmed his party’s commitment in the UDC, he emphasised that governance issues in the coalition should be dealt with as a matter of urgency.