Kgoadi wants Conveners for opposition cooperation talks back
■ UDC must consider bringing back the BMD as well
The biggest mistake that the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has ever made was to exclude Convenors from the opposition cooperation talks.
This is the view of the Botswana National Front (BNF) Committee of Elders’ leader, Patrick Kgoadi. The role of a Committee of Convenors, among other things, is the facilitation of meetings.
Significantly, Convenors also have the responsibility to resolve conflicts within the concerned entity or entities they are working with. Some credit the relative peace and stability in the birthing of the old UDC to the stewardship of the Convenors.
The current UDC is anything but united. According to Kgoadi, the current impasse bedevilling the UDC is the result of negotiators being conflicted due to the fact that they are party activists.
“The only remedy to restore order and eliminate partisan interests, is the Convenors, notably Messrs Lebang Mpotokwane, Emang Maphanyane, Rev. Cosmos Moenga, and Justice John Mosojane should be brought back,” Kgoadi said.
He also feels that more entities should be brought into the fold including Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and the labour unions.
Kgoadi also calls for more dialogue among the concerned parties. Crucially, says the lawyer-cum-politician, the leadership should also be evaluated, including the post-mortem of the 2019 general elections.
“The BMD must also be brought back on board. No one must be left out. Rightist and leftist parties must all come onboard,” he said, adding that nothing short of inclusiveness will take opposition anywhere.
“Unless the stage is set this year, any later efforts will be too late,” Kgoadi warned. He is also unhappy with the way UDC funds were handled.
“The system of raising funds that were used in the last elections should not be allowed as it holds the organisation to ransom,” advised Kgoadi in reference to allegations that the UDC leader, Duma Boko, never accounted for the money he obtained from donors.
The Convenors have themselves complained in the past of being sidelined back in 2018 at the start of the talks between UDC and Botswana Congress Party (BCP), but at the time, UDC Head of Communications, Moeti Mohwasa had explained that the Convenors’ mandate was to oversee the birth of the first UDC, adding that just as the negotiations between the old UDC and the BCP were self-mediated, so will be the current talks involving Alliance for Progressives (AP) and the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF).