Show your true colours

Non-affiliated Members of Parliament and councillors within the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) will soon feel the heat as pressure mounts for them to find a political home among coalition members, Botswana Guardian has learnt.

The UDC is made up of the Alliance for Progressives (AP), the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP).

Information reaching this publication is that there is a behind-the-scenes push for the members, especially MPs, to join individual parties ahead of the 2029 general election.

According to sources, leading the pursuit is the BNF as it eyes most of the constituencies in an effort to further consolidate power.

While it is alleged that there has been some honest recruitment of MPs to join the BNF, the MPs picked up intelligence that the ultimate plan is for the MPs to be challenged during primary elections in the build-up to the general election.

“The BNF believes it deserves those constituencies based on popularity and that in the past it performed fairly if not well in the past elections.

Now the problem is the comfort that the MPs have enjoyed under the directive of President Advocate Duma Boko, which means they do not get to be challenged. Now things have changed, we are in power,” said a source within the BNF.

Within the coalition government, the BNF has 25 MPs and 317 councillors, including Specially Elected ones.

When the UDC was in turmoil in 2022 due to leadership infights while the Botswana Congress Party was still a contracting member, five defiant BCP MPs who were part of the UDC caucus that toppled

BCP President Dumelang Saleshando as Leader of Opposition and replaced him with Dithapelo Keorapetse were slapped with suspension and would later be expelled by the BCP conference held in Mahalapye.

The same conference took a resolution that the BCP should exit the coalition. The members were Keorapetse, Kenny Kapinga, Onneetse Ramogapi, Never Tshabang, and David Tshere.

Following this, President Adv Boko announced that the MPs and any other sitting councillor who was a BCP member will not be subjected to any primary elections.

This saw some of the BCP councillors jumping and becoming direct members of the UDC. The MPs, having stood up to their leadership, got a free ticket to the 2024 general election. Only Kapinga somersaulted and returned to the BCP after tendering an apology.

The tables have now turned as the BNF positions itself for the constituencies. Insiders at the coalition have argued that the BNF is the only party that can lay claim to the constituencies.

The BNF also eyes the Goodhope-Mmathathe, which was won by Independent Candidate, Dr Edwin Dikoloti, who is currently the Acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture and the Tswapong North, which was won by Minister Prince Maele.

Tswapong North, ahead of the 2024 election, was marred by controversy during constituency allocations as it pitted BNF against Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF).

It was eventually awarded to the BPF. The BPF later withdrew from the UDC because the BNF had imposed a Big Brother mentality in the allocation of Constituencies and Wards.

“When you look at our comrades being the AP and BPP, they cannot claim the Mahapye West held by Tshere, they cannot claim Palapye by Ramogapi. The same goes to Nkange and Selibe-Phikwe West,” said a source.

Nkange and Selibe-Phikwe West have been won by the BCP. The two constituencies are likely to be subjected to negotiations for awarding to one of the contracting partners.

Other sources argue that contracting partners could also take their chances to ask for equal sharing if, at all, President Adv Boko could change his stance on the primary immunities of the affected.

The MPs and the councillors are said to be banking on the goodwill of the President. However, there are fears that as the BNF prepares for its primary elections next year, the party could, through its deployees, make a request at the UDC table for the constituencies and the wards to be open for contest if the members do not choose to join any contracting members.

The UDC is yet to hold a conference, which was long promised before the BCP ditched the coalition. The constitutional conference was planned at a time when Saleshando, who was the UDC Vice President, was leading a team that was looking into the review of the constitution, which was to be adopted and used during the 2024 general election.

A twist that could also come into play in the UDC shape is the accommodation of the BPF. The UDC currently has a working relationship with the BPF. BPF has some members serving in the UDC cabinet and as council chairpersons or assistants in some of the councils.

Under its new leadership of Lawrence Ookeditse, the BPF has expressed its willingness to further work with the UDC, not ruling out a decision to rejoin the coalition.

The BNF, during its elective Palapye congress last year, resolved that a policy framework should be submitted to the UDC so that the party would discuss its working relationship with coalition partners.

BNF Vice President Moeti Mohwasa last week told the media that on the issue of the congress of the UDC and how the BNF will be working with their partners, the matter will be dealt with by the party deployees who are President Adv Boko, Chairman Moses Bantsi, Secretary General Dr Stephen Modise and Women’s League President Monica Molome.

The BNF is also expected to conduct its primary elections in 2027, which the Vice President has said are working on tight controls to have fair and transparent primaries.

UDC Chairman Motlatsi Molapisi told this publication on Wednesday that the UDC National Executive Committee will decide on the matter.

“UDC NEC will decide on whether they remain insulated or we come up with another method. There are several issues that have to be discussed that might be changed going into 2029. Briefly, we will look into the issue.

Things have changed, we are now in government and some of the things we might not do them as we used to while in opposition,” Molapisi stated.

Efforts to reach BNF Information and Publicity Secretary, Cater Joseph hit a snag at press time.