Opinions & Columns

Court case or not Biggie, the Khamas do not want you!

Dear Biggie

I pray that this brief again finds you well Comrade Reverend Ganda Biggie Butale. If anybody needs dithapelo, ke wena Biggie. Kana in Tshetlha you are dealing with a master schemer and I wonder what he could be planning against you this time after you once again humiliated him with that court action you embarked on. Le wena Biggie ga o utlwe – an army man tells the whole world through an amplified phone call that he does not like anybody who takes him to court, and in three days you do just that to him - by taking him to court? Repeating what you had done to him before? Biggie tlhe o brave. I take comfort in knowing that you know the man better – that he is obviously plotting another stunt against you. Kana nna as I said last week, I have long warned you - ka 2019 Biggie before ditlhopho – that you are just being used to give the BPF some credence so that it is not seen to be a party of boSomebody.

Where are we now Comrade Revend? Need I remind you of the things I said in that letter of 2019 Comrade Gandaman? When I warned you not to burn bridges with Mosau because a day would come when you might want to return to his party; the party you actually left just because you had lost primary elections and you felt the leadership did not like you! O ba bolella dipuo ke re ‘Heela Biggie, be careful what you say just to please Khama.’ It was four years ago Biggie when I foretold these things that the day will come when he would have ditched you. I actually told you this even before they fell out with you. O ne o akanya gore ke a go iphetlhela kana e bile I don’t like you or them. Not one bit. When we know, we know. You will recall that the first time the BPF suspended you, I repeated my words and even implored you to move on and leave the Khamas alone with their BPF. I warned you then Biggie that you would never be accepted by the Khamas again but somehow you falsely believed that the men had the decency to show you some appreciation for making you a pawn in their personal tirade against the sitting president. Owaii, they were instead all over you, gotwe you are not fit to be President.

They, together with their associates at the blue train, could not even thank you for the sacrifices you had made that saw the BDP lose the parliament and council seats they otherwise would have won. They just did not care that you tirelessly put your body in the line for their eventual historic victories in the central district, and I begged you at the time to wake up and smell the coffee. Remember my words Rra when I kept repeating that you were only being used to fight other people’s battles; once you have helped them cross that bridge, they would discard you like used toilet paper? Biggie, you did not listen. You allowed yourself to return to that platform of your humiliation. I mean, who did not see that the whole saga about your alleged sexcapades with that BUAN student was a setup to bury you forever from the face of BPF politics? I remember saying those who set you up had in the past done worse than what the public was being fed then about you; just that their evils never involved phone recorders for eventual political blackmail. By now Biggie, you would be at peace, perhaps happy with your Godly flock of followers, where many would have long forgotten and forgiven you your alleged trespasses. But here we are again Biggie. I know many will not agree; and neither will you – but Biggie you need to take some time off the murky and dirty politics of the BPF. If by now you still do not see the scribbling on the wall, then I wonder what has to happen to open your eyes.

Man, these guys may even harm you mentally. Physically even! I can’t imagine anything more thankless than what I witnessed at that Saturday rally in Serowe. For a man to even declare publicly that you are a liar who goes around using his royal name to score cheap political points and sympathy – why would you even humiliate yourself that much by saying you will go and talk to him ke rraago? Heela tlhe rra! I do however applaud you for showing maturity amidst that humiliation but look at what your so-called rraago has done now. He quickly made sure his stooges suspend you from the party you helped him build. What can be more thankless Comrade Reverend? It actually embarrassed me to hear you say “Ke Ntate,” after the public disdain he displayed towards you. I mean, a whole party president dismissed as a scam the way Khama did? Even telling that crowd that he expected you, a whole party president, to run to him in South Africa to take instructions from him? And to imagine the party Vice President did run there for instructions! You guys are an embarrassment to allow yourselves to be used in that fashion just for want of approval for votes? Kana I remember asking how Guma would work with Khama the first time I heard he was also in cahoots with him at the BPF.

I know Guma and I knew from the onset that him and Khama were never going to get along. E ne e le just a case of ‘an enemy of my enemy.’ I had my doubts too with Lawrence, although his endurance at the BPF has surprised me. I always admired the chap for not only his eloquence but I also viewed him as smart, independent-minded and too intelligent to be caved in by anybody. Least of all the Khamas. In that light too, I never saw him work smoothly with the royal conceit that prevails at the BPF. It is my opinion that in dumping the ruling party, he would have done well to directly jump into the moving blue train or land just about anywhere else except where he went. But then this thing called politics is complicated. Those on the side-lines don’t always seem to see things the way those inside see them. It is almost always difficult to fathom. I always thought that in this whole thing, if anything, he would be on your side. I remember seeing him with you at the table when you were reinstated, against the wishes of the Khamas.

I thought then tat he was with you, until it emerged recently that you are actually on your own. But as I say, with politics, one can never know. I mean, who would have thought that a seemingly intelligent man like Reatile could be a part of all this senseless scheming? I try to get into his head to figure out how he could find it okay to be indulging in these blatantly unconstitutional dealings of suspending you – it still does not add up. Reggie??? Waitse ga re tlhaloganye dilo ka bontsi. Which is why I still do not understand why you would want to fight your way back into that chaos of a party Biggie. The guys don’t want you anywhere near their party Comrade Reverend. Accept it. You were never a part of them. You were just a convenience. See how they quickly moved to go form a new party when that first court ruling made them realize they could not dislodge you. But then because they realised that forming a new party would be an own goal of some sort, they had to come up with a counter plan that would still not include you and your sympathisers as part of the future of the party.

They slapped you with a suspension – even when it was clear they were constitutionally misbehaving. But they could not care about the constitutionalities; they just wanted you out Comrade, and it's high time you accepted that reality, and by now you should have left that cabal. You have run your race comrade Moruti, nna tota I once again plead with you to move on. These chaps have used you – accept it, for you are not the first person to be used in life - re agile di one room le di two and half ko gaNgwaketse kwa. We have moved on. Le wena move on, o dirisitswe. Kana ka moso ba tsoga ba re o le DIS. Or modongwana. That's how you guys operate akere in opposition politics? So be warned. We all know who founded this party and that you were just a front. Go ne go iphitlhiwa ka leina la gago Moruti when it suited them, and you allowed it – but at what cost? Do they behave like they appreciate the ground work you laboured upon to get their party to what it is today? Do they even pretend to love you? No, Biggie. Quit that cult of a movement.

I know it is not an easy decision to make; I know you have this urge to fight back and prove your mettle; to show them who’s boss; but at what cost? Is it even worth it Biggie? I promise you, a whole lot of peace awaits you out there. I warned you in 2019. I warned you again last week. I warn you again this week. Pack and go before they humiliate you with expulsion letters. Itsamaele Rra. I cannot tell you where exactly, but as long as it is not a that movement, peace awaits you. If there was a better time to sit down and introspect on your future with the Khamas and their party, it is now Comrade Reverend. Ke yone nako ya boammaaruri e! Withdraw the court case against them, hand over whatever remains of their party and move away while your ratings are still high.