BNF rebuilds lost glory
Confronted by its dwindling political fortunes, one of the country’s oldest political parties, the Botswana National Front (BNF) has finally made a move to recoup its lost glory.
For instance, the BNF will next week deploy its executive leadership to the north of the country led by president Duma Boko and his deputy Prince Dibeela, amongst others, in an endeavour to ramp up its presence north of the Dibete cordon fence. The high-powered delegation will include Noah Salakae, Abigail Mogalakwe and Moeti Mohwasa.
The party leadership has engaged on a strong mission to market the BNF and its policies to the people as they have hope that it will yield the required results.
The meetings will also give the BNF leadership a rare opportunity to engage with the people and weigh its actual reception and popularity in the respective areas.
Effective August 5-16, 2021, the party’s high-powered delegation will visit nine constituencies of Mahalapye East, Mahalapye West, Shoshong, SefhareRamokgonami, Lerala-Maunatlala, Palapye, Serowe South, Serowe West and Serowe North East.
It is clear that the BNF will leave no stone unturned as it makes a move to redeem its dwindling fortunes ahead of the 2024 general election. The party leadership decision comes after leadership of the opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP) made a similar move of touring the whole country and strengthening its structures while simultaneously recruiting new members after the 2019 general election. The two political parties seem to be hell-bent on tightening all the political loose ends well in time to enable their structures in the constituencies to function efficiently.
With well functioning structures, the parties will be able to lay proper claims to constituencies and wards when time to share them comes.
Although Boko and Dibeela have been incessantly dogged by controversy relating to their acrimonious campaigns for the BNF presidency ahead of the party elective congress, the party’s campaigns to resuscitate the ailing structures and ramp up membership drive will seemingly unite the duo. The party top leadership has finally made a deliberate move to bring hope to its rank and file that has been frustrated by its (leadership) cold attitude as it watched without action as the BNF fortunes fast faded away.
For many years now, it has not been easy for the party founded in 1965 as its numbers have been on an accelerated downfall in the north. This hasn’t been helped by the party structures that have been as good as non-existent in the wider northern constituencies.
Although the BNF used to be popular and strong in some areas in the north, in particular giving the ruling Botswana Democratic Party a run for its money, the party fortunes took a knock post a major split experienced during the infamous Palapye debacle in 1998.
It is that meeting that resulted in a major split that culminated with the birth of its splinter party, the BCP and this seemingly reduced the BNF’s presence in the north.
It seems the newly formed BCP went away with the party structures and the BNF thereafter dragged its feet to put its house in order. If there were any attempts to rebuild the party’s dysfunctional structures, then it did not bear fruit.
Prior to the 1998 split, the BNF had during the 1994 general election made history by winning three crucial constituencies in the Okavango, Francistown West and then Selebi-Phikwe.
Unfortunately, some 11 BNF legislators disgruntled by the leadership of the late Kenneth Koma would later choose to run away with the party votes to form their own, leaving a void that the BNF leadership took long to fill.
The focus of the BNF has been seemingly on its urban-based constituencies especially south of the Dibete cordon fence where the party has been in control until the last general election in 2019, where it performed dismally.
The BNF, which is in a coalition partnership under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) with its splinter party, the BCP and Botswana People’s Party (BPP), has now decided to cast its political net even wider.
BNF spokesperson, Justin Hunyepa explained this week that the party leadership has not neglected the constituencies north of the Dibete cordon fence. Rather, he said, it is resource constraints that made it difficult for the party to easily spread its wings. He, however conceded: “You will recall that the north was badly affected by the 1998 split of the BNF and didn’t recover easily. But, the BNF has done relatively well in the recent past as it has some councillors in Mahalapye, Maun, Shashe West and others.”
Through the impending visits, Hunyepa said the BNF leadership aims to build structures where they have collapsed and recruit new members.
“The campaign will also bring back those members who may have prematurely retired,” he indicated. “It will also attract those who had resigned and have since realised that the BNF is the most dynamic and true home for comrades.”
Hunyepa further conceded that the southern part of the country has generally been the BNF stronghold.