BCP courts AP faction
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) says it will will consider cooperating with some disgruntled members of the Alliance for Progressives (AP) who are against the AP leadership’s decision to be an affiliate of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
Some members of the AP have clearly made it public that they will not be part of the party’s decision to affiliate with the UDC after the AP dumped BCP when they were in the process of finalising cooperation talks for the 2024 General Election.
The division within the AP came after it informed the BCP and the Botswana Labour Party (BLP) that it is withdrawing from the new coalition. The decision has not gone down well with some members of the party and the team led by former Mogoditshane Member of Parliament, Sedirwa Kgoroba has started negotiating with the BCP.
“We will hear from them. As the BCP we are going to cooperate with any party that is willing to work with us in the 2024 General Election. We value a person of integrity who is not carried away by any storm or is after political positions but who stands for the truth. If someone believes that the BCP is an alternative and wants to negotiate with us, why should we not consider or listen to him? It shows that he is a true revolutionary and it shows us that he is honest,” BCP secretary-general Goretetse Kekgonegile said in an interview on Wednesday.
He said their party is ready to negotiate with any party ready to deliver Batswana from the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government. He also said as the BCP, they do not believe that the UDC can deliver Batswana as it is similar to the BDP and hence they have decided to cooperate with other opposition parties which share the same sentiments with them. He said as the BCP, they will continue to stand for what they believe in. Still on the same issue, Kekgonegile
said currently, they don’t have any problems with the Botswana Labour Party (BLP) and they are cooperating with it fairly. He said the BCP is open and ready to work with any party willing to cooperate or work with them.
In that regard, Kgoroba said in an interview: “It is true. I am the leader of the new AP faction. We are highly considering cooperating with the BCP in the coming General Election since we believe we do understand them better. Again, the AP has been in talks with the BCP and talks were about to be concluded before some of our party leaders decided to betray what we had asked them to do on our behalf. I believe in principle and we must finish what we have started.
Hence, some of us do not believe in what some of the party leaders have done.”
He said it is important that people understand where they are coming from as the AP members who do not want to be associated with the UDC. In addition, he said the AP leadership has failed to follow the due process that was laid out when they claimed to have had a fallout with the BCP.
Kgoroba said as the disgruntled members of the party, they are not afraid to be fired from the AP as they have their own plan but their voice must be heard.
He said it is unfair for members to be told untrue stories while some leaders are using the party to push their personal interests.
He, however, said they have not yet approached the BCP about their request but they will do so after they have finalised with their supporters. The efforts by the BCP trying to sacrifice their own stronghold constituencies to AP could not bear any fruits.
The two constituencies that the BCP was willing to give away included Mogoditshane and Gaborone Central. The AP, the BLP and the BCP had wanted to form a new coalition to contest the coming 2024 General Election. On the other hand, the AP felt that the BCP was untrustworthy since it is still a member of the UDC and denied the AP a chance to contest the recent Bosele by-election.