AP faction doesn’t have the numbers
While it was expected that the disgruntled Alliance for Progressives (AP) faction led by former Mogoditshane legislator Sedirwa Kgoroba would perhaps boost the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), the group has revealed that they do not have the numbers.
Few weeks after rejecting the AP’s decision to dump the Botswana Labour Party (BLP) and the BCP cooperation talks, the faction resurfaced over the weekend at the BCP leadership forum in Palapye only to indicate that they do not have much to offer except allegiance.
The faction that goes by the name “Botswana o mosha” confirmed a few weeks ago that together with few others they had split from the AP because their party leadership had decided to join the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
The Kgoroba-led faction made it clear that it will not be part of the AP’s decision to affiliate with the UDC after dumping the BCP and the BLP when they were in the process of finalising cooperation talks for the 2024 General Election.
When it emerged a few weeks back, the faction promised that it will boost the BCP with numbers but now Kgoroba has made it clear that they do not have the numbers. Delivering a consolidation message at the leadership forum, Kgoroba said as much as they are few, they are stronger together.
When they addressed the media recently, the faction stated that it was yet to negotiate with other AP members who still believe in the ‘New Botswana’.
Kgoroba said they finally found bird of the same feathers in BCP, a decision they arrived at after journeying to the crossroads.
“We wanted something and it also wanted us and that’s how we met here.
We don’t have many words except to say we are with you. We don’t have any property security guarantee but our word is our bond,” Kgoroba swore to BCP leaders. He highlighted that the BCP is thriving for the love of Botswana.
The AP leadership has always been convinced that Kgoroba does not have the numbers to break their party. In an interview with this publication recently, the AP secretary-general, Phenyo Butale said they were not worried that the Kgoroba group could lead a mass exodus.
He said that a cluster led by Kgoroba is not a faction but rather a Mogoditshane group with a few disgruntled members.
“The ones who are supporting Kgoroba are just six in number. This is a small number and our members know the reason why we had to withdraw from the talks,” the AP chairperson Pius Mokgware also pointed out in a recent interview with this publication.
Now that Kgoroba has revealed that they do not have the numbers to form a party or boost the BCP, it remains to be seen whether their faction will be swallowed by the BCP like it has happened with the Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM), the National Democratic Front (NDF), and the Marx, Engel, Lenin and Stalin (MELS) in the past.