Farewell, Annah, but stop lying - Saleshando

Botswana Congress Party (BCP) President Dumelang Saleshando has quashed claims that his party is rocked by factionalism.

Saleshando was responding to claims made by former BCP member, Anna Mokgethi (formerly Motlhagodi), who recently jumped ship to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).  When unveiled by the  BDP on Monday this week, Mokgethi claimed that the BCP leadership was power hungry and she could not associate with the party anymore. Mokgethi is a former BCP Central Committee member.

Saleshando has since countered these claims as misleading. He said the former BCP Legal Affairs Secretary’s claims about factions besieging his party were untrue and meant to tarnish the image of the BCP. He further said that Mokgethi had indicated that she wanted to step down from the party to focus on her law firm which was not performing well.

“Annah informed me about a month before resigning that she had decided to terminate her membership for two reasons. The first was that her law firm was not performing well and she wanted to apply for a job, possibly in one of the parastatals, and BCP membership would be a problem for her job search. The second reason she advanced was that she is now married to a BDP member.

According to her, at the time of their union, they had agreed that the husband would not play an active role in politics but would remain a silent supporter. She said her husband has since decided to be active in the BDP and it was embarrassing for her when they have to travel to political events clad in different party colours heading to different rallies in one family car,” he said.

Saleshando said that he understood Mokgethi’s predicament and had suggested that she consider announcing that she had retired from politics to focus on her career. “There is now a new reason that the youth league congress, which she did not attend, was riddled with factional wars. I respect her decision and wish her well but wish she could be a woman of integrity that I have worked with in the BCP and remain truthful with all statements she makes,” he said.

Mokgethi is alleged to be one of the BCP cadres who were against a resolution on cooperation negotiation with the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
Another BCP activist Moncho Moncho, took a swipe at Mokgethi on social media. He wrote on Facebook that Mokgethi was the author of the current BCP Constitution, which she is now attacking. Moncho said he was co-opted by Mokgethi to assist in the drafting of the amendments to the Constitution.