I can't sell my soul - Khan

Amidst the pomp and fanfare that saw former Botswana Congress Party (BCP) Secretary General Kentse Rammidi being welcomed back into the ruling party yesterday, insinuations filtered that Botswana National Front (BNF) Member of Parliament for Molepolole North, Mohammed Khan was one of the other big fish to be welcomed into the party some weeks to come. But Khan has refuted the rife allegations that he is about to join Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). Information reaching this publication is that the BDP was using their Treasurer Satar Dada to recruit the long-time BNF stalwart.

Dada could not be reached for comment on the matter, but Khan told The Midweek Sun in a telephone interview that he was aware of the talk of his defection, adding that since his early days at BNF, he has always been said to be headed to the ruling party only for such allegations to die a natural death. “This has become an old story since time and again, I am rumoured to be on my way to another political home. I should state on record that I am a BNF member and will remain so until such a time that I will make an arrangement,” he said. Despite this, a source close to him said that it is a question of time before Khan defects to the ruling party since there is a “catch” on the other side of the fence.

There has been talk about the BDP-recruited opposition politicians being targeted because they have been seen to need financial aid that the ruling party is said to be promising to provide. BDP President Mokgweetsi Masisi however dismissed insinuations of financial incentives to the recruited politicians, saying there has been no money given or promised the new members and those expected to join as weeks go by. After the late Isaac Davids was welcomed into the party last year, social media went viral with clips of ‘In the matter between’ notices that involved the MP, with attendant speculation he was to be aided through his financial troubles by the ruling party. Similarly, social media yesterday was flooded with clips that suggested Rammidi also needed financial aid with some piece of land he owns that the National Development Bank has allegedly attached for sale.

At the press conference called to welcome Rammidi and others, Masisi said there was no such ‘penny’ extended to the newly-recruited. BNF Spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa also refuted the claims of Khan’s defection, saying he had not received any correspondence from Khan that he is quitting the party. Khan himself was adamant that whatever his circumstances, he can never sell his soul. He expressed empathy for some of the situations that could cause some members of the opposition to join the BDP, saying some people find themselves cornered into debts with nowhere else to run. “I am not about to do so. In any case, I don’t find the BDP attractive to join because they do not have internal democracy. While there you have to toe the party line,” he said Khan added that if he were to join the BDP or any other party, he would have first gone to his voters to let them know of his intentions and why he was doing so. “I got into parliament through a voting disc, voted in by people. I have to respect them enough to go back and let them know if I want to move away, for whatever reason,” he said as he shot down speculation of his defection as baseless.