Masalila fall guy in BDP factions

Before he suspended him, President Ian Khama had to wait for Fanu Masalila, Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Executive Secretary who was in parliament to arrive at his office. “I was on the way from the parliamentary caucus when (Mpho) Balopi (BDP Secretary General) phoned me. He found me in the office and gave me the letter.”

As if he expected it, Masalila remained indifferent and continued with his work until late in the afternoon. Masalila’s indefinite suspension has a lot to do more with how BDP factions outplay themselves as a party than the Executive Secretary’s performance record. Those who understand BDP central committee, particularly those who worked at Tsholetsa House, say that control of the ruling party is testosterone-filled and clouded with difference in levels of operation.

To understand the suspension of Masalila, one has to understand how BDP exercises its power at central committee level. During the time when Batlang Comma Serema was Executive Secretary, “certain powers were taken away” from him, according to Tsholetsa House insiders. When he became Executive Secretary in 2011, Masalila was almost a dummy with little power at decision-making level.

An old hand at Tsholatsa House said while Masalila is a victim of power relations in the faction – ridden BDP, the “exceptionally thin skinned” Masalila always attracted controversy in the ruling party and was seen to be sympathetic to the Barataphathi faction. Factionalists, sources say, always viewed the position of Executive Secretary with equal measure of adulation and suspicion.

“They always want a Secretary General to be on their side, but they never trust him,” says a source. This has cultivated great deal of mistrust among camps to an extent that attempts to expel Masalila in July 2012 mostly by A-Team factionalists who viewed him as sympathetic to Barataphathi. “He might have rubbed some people the wrong way, but he is professional,” said another source.

Just two weeks ago, Masalila was alleged to have been involved in attempts to recruit Patrick Balopi to challenge Guma Moyo and Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi. Those who were convinced that he recruited Balopi, especially in the Guma camp were infuriated. The recent car accident (which involved his wife, sources say, was just a smokescreen to get rid of the youthful Executive Secretary.

“He did not alter the constitution, that’s nonsense,” a source muttered this week. Masalila declined to be drawn into the matter saying it is inconsequential to discuss details of his suspension and that he has to abide by the party’s code of ethics. “I am at peace with myself,” he said on Wednesday. Others say he had work related problems with Balopi and that the two differed on matters related to governance of the party.

“Men are protecting themselves at the expense of Masalila,” another Masalila sympathiser cried. The youthful Executive Secretary with a penchant for farming will appear for a disciplinary hearing early next week. As things stand insiders say Masalila will certainly be fired.