Can the BPF survive a split?
BPF survival anchored on its ability to disentangle from Khama and Bangwato hegemony
If not handled properly, the alleged sexual misconduct saga by Botswana Patriotic Front president Biggie Butale, may pose an existential threat for the party.
BPF earned the title of ‘ fastestgrowing political party in the country’ after it garnered three parliamentary and several council seats at the 2019 general election when it was only three months old.
Even post 2019 general election, BPF made more gains welcoming sitting councillors from both the ruling and opposition parties.
With the exception of the Botswana Congress Party ( BCP), splinter parties in this country have neither survived nor prospered. Observers note that, although the BCP was formed by angry cadres of Botswana National Front ( BNF), it has nonetheless survived because it quickly developed its own policies and ideological outlook completely different from those of the BNF; a development which has proved to be critical for the party’s survival.
The BPF, which came about after the fallout between former President Dr. Ian Khama and President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi, has yet to pronounce a distinct programmatic policy platform other than the ousting of President Masisi soon.
A BPF member of the Central Committee who prefers anonymity admitted to Botswana Guardian that the Butale matter has already caused a rift in the party which has the potential to develop into a fully- fledged factional showdown.
His observation is that Butale is no pushover as he commands a lot of support in the party. “Besides, only the party congress can take disciplinary action against him,” said the source, as he calls upon both Butale and the party to avoid recklessness during these trying times for the party.
“Whatever happens to the party depends on how the issue is handled by the party and Butale himself,” the BPF activist said.
Reportedly, the faction has doubled its efforts to recruit Guma Moyo and Nonofo Molefhi and have one of them replace Butale as efforts to short- circuit his presidency are alleged to have
intensified.
In a recent interview, University of Botswana ( UB) lecturer, Leonard Sesa warned that it is unfortunate that the BPF, which is barely two years old, is already experiencing a potentially existential threat.
“Butale is not likely to go down quietly especially if indeed he has been framed. There is likely to be a lot of action especially if Butale goes into retaliation mode which he is likely to do.
“As the founding president of the party, Butale is in a position to reveal a lot of damaging information because he knows every single one of the party secrets,” said Sesa, who believes that Butale, unlike Dr. Khama, has got very little to lose in the final analysis.
“On the other hand, Dr. Khama is desperate to have President Masisi out of office.” There have been perceptions that Butale was never earmarked for the presidency of the BPF.
“He was not intended to be the head of the BPF which is dominated by the Bangwato people particularly from Serowe and its environs.
Tribalism is alive in Botswana albeit subtle and muted,” another UB don, Adam Mfundisi observed.
Mfundisi stated that people still harbour tribal feelings and sentiments in their behaviour. He also believes that factionalism in the BPF will have serious ramifications for the party.
“It started on a high note, but the honeymoon may be over sooner than the party leadership expects. This might lead to the fragmentation of the new party as the legitimacy and efficiency of any party is premised on cohesion and integration,” the UB political scientist said.
According to him, political parties formed not on the basis of principles and policies, are bound to fail in their journey to be relevant in the already crowded political space.
Mfundisi advises that the party must get rid of factionalism, regionalism and tribalism tags for it to become a national party because, as he says, its survival is anchored on its ability to disentangle itself from Dr. Khama and Bangwato hegemony.
“If voters across the Botswana political landscape perceive it as a tribal political party, its demise is imminent,” warned Mfundisi.
However, BPF spokesperson Lawrence Ookeditse does not think the Butale issue could lead to factions in the party.
“Why should this result in factions? We are not worried about factionalism because factions are usually based on issues. It cannot be that, when a leader has acted or may have acted inappropriately, we cannot act because we are scared of the emergence of factions”, Ookeditse stated adding that, the party has got values and principles among which are fairness, equality and social justice.
“This one is a mere issue of a leader accused of sexual misconduct,” said Ookeditse who expressed the concern that the matter is in the public domain soiling the name of the party.
The BPF spokesperson indicated that instead of prejudging, the party had decided Butale will be given a proper hearing to inform itself what actually happened after hearing the two sides of the story.
“To facilitate that, the National Executive Committee ( NEC) asked him to resign but he clearly did not agree with that. What is important is the image of the party,” Ookeditse said vowing that the party would not be deterred.
“We will continue to hold our leaders accountable regardless of their positions,” Ookeditse said.
“Our leaders will be held accountable regardless of their rank or who they are as long as they have done something that may put the name of the organisation in disrepute,” Ookeditse stated.
He explained that what the party sought to do was to put in place a process through which at the end Butale will be found to be guilty of something or free of any blameworthiness.
“If this leads to factionalism, then we have a problem and that is what we should be worried about and not factionalism.
We should not be worried about doing the right thing,” advised the party spokesperson.
“As a party, we are extremely proud that when we had an issue to deal with, we dealt with it without fear or favour,” said Ookeditse, who is of the view that what the party is looking at is a moral issue that is out there for everyone to see.
Meanwhile, Butale is due to appear before the party National Executive Committee ( NEC).