Duma Boko: portrait of a president-in-waiting, or…

To some, Duma Boko is a saviour who, like the Biblical Moses, is destined to deliver the people of Botswana to Canaan or, better still, to transform Botswana into the land of milk and honey. To others, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) leader is an unmitigated charlatan.

He shot to prominence in political circles in 2010 when he became president of the BNF. Many will remember however that, back in the 90s, he used his column in The Monitor newspaper to discuss political issues. He also used the column to castigate High Court judges whom he accused of being too conservative in their determination of cases. His other gripe with the judges and magistrates was that their judgements were written in bad English grammar!

Neither did academics at the University of Botswana (UB) escape his rabid attacks for, according to him, failing to live up to expectations by not researching, writing and publishing. This is despite the fact that there is no evidence that Boko, who is a former law lecturer at UB, has himself published anything. On the basis of his newspaper articles, an impression was formed about him that he was rather too quarrelsome and confrontational for someone aspiring to one day be Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces.

His rather hostile attitude towards the media especially when his party experienced instability and there was uncertainty in the UDC raised suspicions that, should he become president, he might, at best, want to only work with a pliant media or, at worst, one which allows itself to be used as an obedient propaganda machine for the establishment.

Boko’s ascendency to the leadership of the Botswana National Front (BNF) was anything but easy. His detractors challenged his presidency in court alleging then, and they still maintain to this very day, that when the BNF split in 2000, he became a founding member of the resultant splinter party, the National Democratic Front (NDF). If proven, this would, according to the BNF constitution, disqualify him from a leadership position in the party for the duration of three years after rejoining it. He prevailed over his detractors in court and went on to become president of the party in July 2010 at the party congress in Mochudi.

Things came to a head when the BNF, under Boko became part of the opposition cooperation talks which included the Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP), Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the newly formed Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD). The BMD had been formed by disgruntled members of the BDP who included Members of Parliament (MPs). They had left the party, not for any ideological differences but because they had issues with the party leader, Ian Khama who they accused of authoritarianism.

Opposed to the formation of an umbrella organisation to which the BNF, BPP and BMD would then affiliate, Boko’s detractors argued that, because their party is a mass organisation, the BPP and BMD should instead affiliate to it. The concerned members, consisting mainly of leftists in the party, were also worried that BNF’s ideology would be compromised were it to become part of the UDC.
Boko’s opponents in the party were openly opposed to any alliance with the BMD whose credentials as an opposition party they doubted.

The UDC leader’s public announcement that he had never voted became fodder for his detractors both from within the BNF itself and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). Their verdict was that he is so irresponsible that he does not deserve anybody’s consideration at the election.

The near rebellion resulting from opposition by BNF members for their party to go into an alliance with the other opposition parties resulted in the suspensions, expulsions and resignations of BNF stalwarts such as Akanyang Magama, Isaac Mabiletsa, Lemogang Ntime, Gabriel Kanjabanga, Kagiso Ntime, Kentse Rammidi, among others.

When some accused him of purging the party, others gave him credit for being bold. “In the midst of uncertainty in the party, he made the decision that the BNF would join the UDC. In the process, he risked his position for the greater good,” said political observer, Anthony Morima in an interview. He is impressed by Boko’s ability to have, despite the controversy at the time, managed to marshal many in the direction of the UDC.

While some celebrated the departure of the ‘rebels’ as good riddance and in the interest of peace in the BNF, there are those who maintain that the peace could have been achieved in a more amicable way. “The end should not always justify the means. There is no doubt that he prevailed over his opponents. The problem though is that it is not clear whether he ever tried to sit down with them and win them over diplomatically,” said Morima who added that the jury was still out on whether Boko is a consensus builder or not.

His view is that, one of the attributes of a good leader is the ability to build relationships and even keep those who bitterly disagree with him. By getting rid of his opponents either through expulsions or resignations, the BNF, according to Morima, lost not only the numbers but a lot of talent and experience. The danger, according to him, is that, opponents who are not won over may regroup and come back when their target is at its weakest.

Morima conceded though that one of the attributes of a good leader is to be able to fight his opponents even within his party and beat them. In his view, Boko has shown that he is no pushover. “He has shown that he is a strategist,” he said. Meanwhile, the wrangles in the BNF took a toll on the party and the UDC leading to poor performance by the alliance. The three-party coalition was exposed in two by-elections in Francistown when it came last.

Thinking that the BNF was now a liability, some in the BMD leadership wanted their party to withdraw from the alliance to allow the BNF and its president to sort out their problems. Refusing to bow to pressure, boastful Boko remained as straight as an arrow even once arrogantly describing the voices of dissent against his leadership as “the shrills of a thousand mosquitoes,” or words to that effect.

Some would say that Boko survived the onslaught from his critics including being called Boko Haram by the radical anti-cooperation lobby in the BCP because he believed that it was the ultimate prize for the so-called peoples’ project. His self-assurance grew, to the chagrin of his internal opponents, after a special congress which endorsed the opposition cooperation talks. Boko would go on to make his critics eat humble pie when the UDC did very well in the general election in 2014 at the expense of both the BDP and BCP. “UDC performance also confirms that the man is a strategist. He managed to marshal a lot of resources including buses and helicopters in an unprecedented way in the last general election,” enthused Morima.

Boko silenced President Khama and the then BDP secretary general, Mpho Balopi when they claimed he had met the President seeking membership of the BDP. He challenged them to produce the audio clips which thing they failed to do. To many however, it remains unclear whether failure by the BDP to air the clips as they had threatened to do, is proof that the whole thing was a fabrication in the first place or whether the contents would have damaged both Boko and the BDP leaders in equal measure.   

After the election, many of his detractors, especially in the BCP predicted that, it was just a matter of time before the coalition was bogged down in fights for positions such as the Leader of the Opposition (LOO) thereby heralding the demise of the collective. The predictions were informed by the fact that, of the 17 UDC-held constituencies, 10 belonged to the BMD while the BNF held the remaining seven.

The UDC leader confounded his critics when, ironically, instability developed in the BCP emanating from disagreement within the party on whether the BCP should join the UDC or not.
To his credit, while the ordinary members thought the best way forward was to recruit disgruntled members of the beleaguered BCP into the UDC, Boko extended an olive branch to the BCP by appealing to its angry members not to join the UDC as that would cause bad blood between the two parties which situation would jeopardise the envisaged cooperation talks between them.

Despite defeating his opponents in the BNF and in the Gaborone Bonnington North, observers believe that Boko still has a lot to do to be able to be acceptable to people of all ages. “There is no doubt that he is intelligent and that the youth associate with him. If he wants the elder voters to feel at ease in his presence, he needs to reduce his obsession with the English language even when he could have reached a wider audience through the medium of Setswana. His general demeanour including dress code must change to befit that of a President-in-waiting,” said Morima who regretted that Boko has not been consistent in showing leadership.

“For instance, the death of Motswaledi and the investigations undertaken by the UDC was a decisive moment for him to demonstrate his statesmanship. Failure for the report to be released will make him go down in history as having failed to convince one of UDC’s affiliates, the BMD, to be transparent. It is up to him to show that the UDC is more accountable than the BDP,” added Morima.

The political commentator also pointed out that it would have been in Boko’s own interest to reconcile the BMD and Pilane. Morima also fails to understand why Boko did not reconcile BOFEPUSU and BOPEU. “He should have taken Tebogo Sebego of the BFA’s example. When Township Rollers’ factional wars were raging, he brought them together in an attempt to bring peace. There is no evidence that Boko ever tried to reconcile BOFEPUSU and BOPEU,” opined Morima who is happy however that Boko has recently been holding consultative meetings with unions and the media. 

BNF members who doubt Boko’s credentials say that he is not known to have belonged to any party structures in his youth. They are also not convinced that he understands the ideological orientation of the party he leads especially when contrasting him to his predecessors, namely, Kenneth Koma and Otsweletse Moupo. Many accuse him of being too aloof. “The problem is that he, unlike his predecessors, is not accessible. You cannot for instance just pick the phone and talk to him.

Koma was never too busy to respond to calls,” lamented Robert Maposa-a BNF veteran based in Francistown- who added that, before he became BNF president, Boko did not attend BNF conferences regularly.

Coming short of calling Boko intolerant, Maposa pointed out that the BNF central committee does not have people of Boko’s calibre because he (Boko) de-campaigned them in the run-up to the last party congress. Another BNF veteran who preferred to be referred to as, Odirile Junior is confident that Boko is presidential material. “I have known him for a long time and know him to be very intelligent and has been in the party for a long time, Boko is also the product of BNF study groups,” said Junior. Asked about Boko’s alleged aloofness and arrogance, Junior said, “He has to act like a president-in-waiting and avoid over-mingling with people,” he added.

Morima sees things differently. “Boko should become an ordinary person,” he said. His biggest challenge is to achieve what he failed to do in the run up to the 2014 general election: ensure that, this time around, the BCP comes on board and becomes part of the opposition front ahead of the 2019 general election.