Masisi-Khama fight is just a façade –Venson-Moitoi

Following his crowning moment in Kang where he was declared the leader of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi called for reconciliation among fellow democrats. Dr Masisi revealed he was already in the process of embracing and working with Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi who pulled out at the eleventh hour from the presidential race that pitted the two together. Dr Masisi expressed the desire to be a unifying figure in the ruling party, indicating that what had happened in the election process was just democracy playing itself. He called on party members to embrace, welcome, recognise, acknowledge and deeply cherish the participation of every single democrat in the campaign for this year’s general elections. He said he would be tagging along a diversity of people as he traverses the country campaigning for the BDP to promote inclusion. He said democrats have to be united to deliver victory at the national polls. He promised to meet with Dr Venson-Moitoi and chat a way forward to work together for the benefit of the BDP. He stated that Dr Venson-Moitoi was expressing her democratic right to challenge him for the party presidency. Dr Venson-Moitoi has on the other hand pointed out that she decided not to participate in the presidential elections because they were a fraud. She said the court had not addressed what she had asked for regarding the election. She said her participation in the election as a challenger would have given the election legitimacy it did not deserve. Dr Venson-Moitoi who was fired from cabinet last December after announcing her candidacy revealed that President Dr Masisi is fighting her indirectly through former President Dr Ian Khama. According to her, the fight between the current and former president even though she would not state for a fact what they are fighting for, is just a facade. She strongly believes that Masisi’s actions against Khama are actually targeted at her. She however explained that she would continue to work for the BDP as a member in good standing. Ahead of the Special Congress tensions were high when the President allegedly wanted to address Dr Motioi’s supporters. The members at the camp were angry accusing the party leadership of sideling them only because they supported Dr Venson-Moitoi. This was after Director General of Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) Peter Magosi visited their camp. Sources revealed that the visit was at the instruction of the president requesting to address his challenger’s supporters. Both Magosi and Dr Venson-Motioi declined to divulge the contents of their short meeting. President Dr Masisi had the previous night (Thursday) addressed his supporters at his base called Camp Dubai. It remains to be seen if Dr Venson-Moitoi and the president will meet and finally iron out their differences. Dr Venson-Moitoi had earlier on Friday during a press conference dismissed claims by BDP Secretariat that she requested for a meeting with the president on Thursday when her case against the BDP was still ongoing. She revealed that the meeting was proposed by both legal teams representing her and the BDP.