Keorapetse and Rakgare smoke the peace pipe

The Publicity Secretary of Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Dithapelo Keorapetse and Youth League leader, Tumiso Rakgare have apologised for their actions.

In a joint statement released on Wednesday both leaders said it was never their intention to bring the party into disrepute.

In the statement released after a story on The Weekend Post by Rakgare, Keorapetse said,“Rakgare’s personal views may have drastic implications on the mandate given to the BCP leaders by the majority of its members in Kanye at a regional consultation on opposition cooperation. Rakgare should have reasonably foreseen this possibility. We regret his error.” Rakgare argued at the time that he was speaking on his personal capacity.

According to the joint statement, it was agreed that it was wrong for BCPYL President to have granted an interview voicing his personal opinion over matters that were still being discussed by the Party Executive Committee. “The timing and its circumstances prevailing at the time of the interview and even today, makes it inappropriate for the BCPYL President who sits both in the Party Executive Committee and Central Committee to have given an interview of such nature to the press,” states the release.

They also said the response to the interview referred to by Keorapetse is “Perceived to be a personal attack on the person of the BCPYL President and appears to be emotive.”  According to both leaders, the issue has been discussed between themselves and the party leadership and has been amicably resolved.