I refused to betray Sir G (Gomolemo Motswaledi)
After the Kanye Congress, Gomolemo Motswaledi was suspended from the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) for some flimsy reasons. I was then asked to disassociate myself from him so that I could become the new Secretary General - mind you, I was his Deputy. I refused and Kwerepe was then catapulted to the position of Secretary General and was also nominated to the North West District Council.
The Secretary General position came with very attractive perks such as a car and the control of the administrative machinery of the party. That not withstanding, I refused to take my eyes off the ball. We were following a principle which we so much believed in and cherished. We were following the truth, we wanted the best for our people; we wanted good governance, accountability, fairness and the rule of law. We believed in the constitution and not emotions.
I and others are still traversing the path religiously no matter the circumstances. It is not an easy road to traverse but traversable nonetheless. It is a difficult road for those whose first love is either wealth or fame.
BETRAYING my own brother was not an option because that would have been tantamount to BETRAYING oneself together with all the principles we cherished.
Eight years later, we are still guided by those principles and they still define our political path. While at the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), colleagues betrayed us and gave in to money and government positions. Ndaba Gaolathe and I were suspended from the BMD by those we at some point trusted and led.
The most painful part was that the charges sent to us by the Deputy Secretary General of the BMD originated from a member and lawyer of a party we were in coalition with then - a member who pretended to be our best friend. The BMD Deputy Secretary General just forwarded the email as sent by our friend when she was supposed to copy, paste and send as a new document.
Members of the party stood up to protect the party and their leaders in Bobonong with great success. Although we lost the name, we kept the membership and renamed the movement, Alliance for Progressives (AP).
The journey has not been smooth but I believe that one day we will account to our Maker and I also believe that one day we will be reunited with Gomolemo and we will walk to him with pride and tell him that we fought a good fight and the fight was rough but we kept the faith. I will be landing in New York, USA to participate in the High level Political Forum on Sustainable Development under the theme, "Building back better from the corona virus disease, while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development. "
On Saturday I will be back home to participate in the AP National Congress at Adansonia Hotel in Francistown. Ke utlwa gotwe palo ya bone ga e kake ya fetsa mohama wa peba, matutsinyana a teng. Tlholang le Modimo.