Long before the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) was born, the brightest minds in the Botswana National Front knew one truth: Kenneth Koma would not allow any policy to pass without Taolo Lucas’s eye on it.
This is according to Team Taolo Lucas Information and Publicity Secretary, Olebile Machete. Team Taolo will go up against Team Unity, led by MP for Kgatleng East, Dr Unity Dow, presenting a fierce battle for the party’s central committee positions.
Lucas and Dr Dow are both vying for the Vice Presidency of the BCP. The party will hold its elective conference in July this year at Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School.
In an interview, Machete stated that Lucas was the rising star of the BNF. Yet in 1998, he chose principle over comfort and walked with Michael Dingake and others to form the Botswana Congress Party, Machete said.
“In 1999, when no opposition dared touch Bobirwa, Lucas went there. The ruling BDP owned it. The opposition had never even contested it. A “city slicker” could have taken a safe seat in Gaborone. He was offered it. He refused. He chose the hard road,” he stated.
In 2001, at 35, Lucas stood for Vice President against veteran Gilson Saleshando and lost by five (5) votes.
Gilson saw the fire in him and made Lucas the National Organising Secretary. Lucas travelled every corner of Botswana, constituency by constituency, building structures where none existed.
By 2004, he had slashed the BDP’s margin in Bobirwa. Soon after, he won the Secretary General position with a decisive mandate, Machete commented.
When the BCP debated joining the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), Lucas led the “Re mono hela” team.
“He warned: this would erode the party’s identity and weaken it in the south. He also warned that the relationship is not sustainable. He lost the 2015 Kanye elective conference by 20 votes. The party joined. He was proven right on both counts,” Machete lamented. He added: “The party’s identity bled. Its southern base fractured. In 2021, he ran for Vice President with one message: ‘Return the party to its rightful owners – the masses’. He defeated
Daisy Bathusi and began the painful work of rebuilding”.
According to Machete, with President Dumelang Saleshando, Lucas steered the BCP out of the coalition through threats, splits, and uncertainty. He argues that five (5) MPs were fired in Mahalapye in 2022 for turning against the party.
“And from that storm, the BCP emerged stronger: a historic 15 Parliamentary seats, and 125 Council seats,” he said. As the BCP heads to Mogoditshane this July, the question for many members is not if Lucas can lead - that has already been proven - it is whether the party is ready to trust the man who built it from nothing.
Most members seem to be convinced that he is the hand the party needs to lead it to Government. Convinced that under him and Saleshando, the party will not abandon its founding manifesto, the Democratic and Development Programme.
Team Taolo has laid out five (5) pillars for 2029, being: Protect 2024’s gains: hold all 15 seats as the foundation; Turn lessons into power: use 2024 as the blueprint to win in 2029; Transform into a high-performance, grassroots-led machine; Establish a dedicated 2029 campaign fund; Prepare to govern: build a machinery fit for Day 1 after victory.
“There is no doubt that Taolo Lucas is not a politician of convenience. He is the indomitable builder who bleeds Lime. When others left, he stayed. When others played it safe, he built in Bobirwa. When the party broke, he rebuilt it.”
This past weekend, during a star rally in Selibe-Phikwe, BCP President told the gathering that he has faith in both Lucas and Dr Dow.
Saleshando cleared the air that he is not supporting any of the candidates, but whoever the BCP members vote as Vice President, he will work with to grow the party and prepare for state power.
He called on the BCP members not to be derailed by their enemies who are pinning the two camps against each other, with some saying Lucas has overstayed in leadership, while others say Dr Dow is new.
“If the party could have two Vice Presidents, I was going to have them both serve,” Saleshando said.
This is according to Team Taolo Lucas Information and Publicity Secretary, Olebile Machete. Team Taolo will go up against Team Unity, led by MP for Kgatleng East, Dr Unity Dow, presenting a fierce battle for the party’s central committee positions.
Lucas and Dr Dow are both vying for the Vice Presidency of the BCP. The party will hold its elective conference in July this year at Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School.
In an interview, Machete stated that Lucas was the rising star of the BNF. Yet in 1998, he chose principle over comfort and walked with Michael Dingake and others to form the Botswana Congress Party, Machete said.
“In 1999, when no opposition dared touch Bobirwa, Lucas went there. The ruling BDP owned it. The opposition had never even contested it. A “city slicker” could have taken a safe seat in Gaborone. He was offered it. He refused. He chose the hard road,” he stated.
In 2001, at 35, Lucas stood for Vice President against veteran Gilson Saleshando and lost by five (5) votes.
Gilson saw the fire in him and made Lucas the National Organising Secretary. Lucas travelled every corner of Botswana, constituency by constituency, building structures where none existed.
By 2004, he had slashed the BDP’s margin in Bobirwa. Soon after, he won the Secretary General position with a decisive mandate, Machete commented.
When the BCP debated joining the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), Lucas led the “Re mono hela” team.
“He warned: this would erode the party’s identity and weaken it in the south. He also warned that the relationship is not sustainable. He lost the 2015 Kanye elective conference by 20 votes. The party joined. He was proven right on both counts,” Machete lamented. He added: “The party’s identity bled. Its southern base fractured. In 2021, he ran for Vice President with one message: ‘Return the party to its rightful owners – the masses’. He defeated
Daisy Bathusi and began the painful work of rebuilding”.
According to Machete, with President Dumelang Saleshando, Lucas steered the BCP out of the coalition through threats, splits, and uncertainty. He argues that five (5) MPs were fired in Mahalapye in 2022 for turning against the party.
“And from that storm, the BCP emerged stronger: a historic 15 Parliamentary seats, and 125 Council seats,” he said. As the BCP heads to Mogoditshane this July, the question for many members is not if Lucas can lead - that has already been proven - it is whether the party is ready to trust the man who built it from nothing.
Most members seem to be convinced that he is the hand the party needs to lead it to Government. Convinced that under him and Saleshando, the party will not abandon its founding manifesto, the Democratic and Development Programme.
Team Taolo has laid out five (5) pillars for 2029, being: Protect 2024’s gains: hold all 15 seats as the foundation; Turn lessons into power: use 2024 as the blueprint to win in 2029; Transform into a high-performance, grassroots-led machine; Establish a dedicated 2029 campaign fund; Prepare to govern: build a machinery fit for Day 1 after victory.
“There is no doubt that Taolo Lucas is not a politician of convenience. He is the indomitable builder who bleeds Lime. When others left, he stayed. When others played it safe, he built in Bobirwa. When the party broke, he rebuilt it.”
This past weekend, during a star rally in Selibe-Phikwe, BCP President told the gathering that he has faith in both Lucas and Dr Dow.
Saleshando cleared the air that he is not supporting any of the candidates, but whoever the BCP members vote as Vice President, he will work with to grow the party and prepare for state power.
He called on the BCP members not to be derailed by their enemies who are pinning the two camps against each other, with some saying Lucas has overstayed in leadership, while others say Dr Dow is new.
“If the party could have two Vice Presidents, I was going to have them both serve,” Saleshando said.
