FREEDOM SQUARE
Today our UDC leader is busy preparing the minds of the gullible to believe any loss in 2024 will be the result of rigging. He and his followers are not bothered about working the ground where real votes are. They are not even bothered about the things that annoy us about the UDC.
Of course when we speak out we are sell outs. We have come to accept that and we now speak freely from a distance. But we still have hope. UDC comrades should stop fooling themselves thinking they have majority numbers to win them power. This is the mistake they made in 2019. At Duma Boko's 2019 star rally in G-West, many who wore the blue UDC colours teased and said they were there to enjoy the sounds of Vusi Nova but were campaigning for Annah Mokgethi. Even some within the 2019 UDC in Gaborone Bonnington North were saying they don't want him to win. These are the realities they ignore.
They hype the Madibelatlhopho talk so that they give the impression elections will be rigged. Even Saleshando today says he never believed elections were rigged - it was just an excuse to hide embarrassment of loss. Now instead of preparing the ground to gain more voters, they are busy trashing intra-party democratic principles. The house is burning inside with the disgruntled bolting out. They are not interested in dealing with the matter of losing members. In fact they say the disgruntled members have been bought.
Who in their right mind would believe the likes of Resego, Saleshando, Dibeela and others can be bought? There is no care in the world about keeping the UDC numbers as members resign or opt for other parties. Instead they are busy preparing to say the 2024 elections were rigged. Even before the elections. Just as Boko did say in 2019 prior to elections that he would not accept election results should the UDC lose. He kept the promise. No introspection. Just the face-saving excuse that elections were rigged.
Of course this was to give the false impression that he did well when he knows he was rejected. We are at it again. Every time we speak, it is about elections being rigged. It is IEC this, IEC that. Nothing about winning hearts and minds to the UDC. The blame ground has been prepared. If the UDC wins, they will say it's because they had deployed Madibelatlhopho. If they lose, we already know what they will say. That they have long said it. UDC must get on the ground and work.
This rigged elections narrative will not take us anywhere. As it is, we are not preparing to win elections. We are preparing an excuse for our anticipated loss of elections. The party president is even threatening violence should things not go the UDC way. 2019 has not taught him anything. He and his cheerleaders who insult us and say we are bought must just accept the truth that the BDP did not rig elections in 2019. They did their work on the ground, capitalized on numerous blunders by the UDC, coupled with the Masisi and Khama feud that clearly helped the BDP cause.
This time around, it almost looks likely that it is the BCP that will topple the BDP. Because the BCP cadres are working the ground and not preparing to cry rigging. Today the BCP is showing why it can be trusted and many undecided voters are leaning towards them. They practice intra-party democracy. They are focused. They speak the language voters want to hear. They are decent. They are government-like. They are at peace. They are practicing what they preach. In the meantime, UDC is talking electoral fraud. They are insulting those who call them out for bad governance.
They are still fighting for constituencies. Their members are at the courts. Their godfather in South Africa is planting seeds of civil strife for our country. Instead of advising on governance, he is sponsoring divisions within his own party, and encouraging the lawlessness he himself abhorred. When will things really settle at the UDC? Can we all get our political houses in order before it is too late. So that we don’t bark at the wrong tree in the end – like saying elections were rigged. Elections are rigged where we lose but are not rigged where we win. Hypocrisy. When we say these things out, we are insulted and told we have been bought by DIS and Domkrag. No care to look into why so many dissenting voices. Top figures can’t just leave the party one after the other with the same reasons being given, and still no one cares. These same issues come from afar - as way back as the time the likes of Reatile, Magama, Mabiletsa and others resigned.
There was the youth league leader Motsabakedi Khumoekae. Salakae also did write a mouthful. Today we have the likes of youth league leader Resego and Women's league leader Dr Nkoane. And there are others who like Dr Nkoane, have kept quiet for too long and continuing to do so while they remain inside with hope. The problem is, we are labeled enemies of the leader. That we are jealous of the leader. We are all about the leader. We do not care what people say, as long as Comrade Napoleon says it, he must be right. For every resignation or voice, there is a bucketful of insults waiting to be hurled. No tolerance at all. And we want people to believe we can govern? When we don’t entertain dissenting voices? Always ready to insult and not introspect? This Mindset Change mantra speaks to us. Let us begin with questioning the things that are being questioned by others. Get to the bottom of everything and proceed with the truth. Anything else will lead us the way to 2019 all over again, with either BDP or BCP coming off with flying colours while we chant the tired RIGGING slogan. TSHEPANG MOOKETSANE
Of course when we speak out we are sell outs. We have come to accept that and we now speak freely from a distance. But we still have hope. UDC comrades should stop fooling themselves thinking they have majority numbers to win them power. This is the mistake they made in 2019. At Duma Boko's 2019 star rally in G-West, many who wore the blue UDC colours teased and said they were there to enjoy the sounds of Vusi Nova but were campaigning for Annah Mokgethi. Even some within the 2019 UDC in Gaborone Bonnington North were saying they don't want him to win. These are the realities they ignore.
They hype the Madibelatlhopho talk so that they give the impression elections will be rigged. Even Saleshando today says he never believed elections were rigged - it was just an excuse to hide embarrassment of loss. Now instead of preparing the ground to gain more voters, they are busy trashing intra-party democratic principles. The house is burning inside with the disgruntled bolting out. They are not interested in dealing with the matter of losing members. In fact they say the disgruntled members have been bought.
Who in their right mind would believe the likes of Resego, Saleshando, Dibeela and others can be bought? There is no care in the world about keeping the UDC numbers as members resign or opt for other parties. Instead they are busy preparing to say the 2024 elections were rigged. Even before the elections. Just as Boko did say in 2019 prior to elections that he would not accept election results should the UDC lose. He kept the promise. No introspection. Just the face-saving excuse that elections were rigged.
Of course this was to give the false impression that he did well when he knows he was rejected. We are at it again. Every time we speak, it is about elections being rigged. It is IEC this, IEC that. Nothing about winning hearts and minds to the UDC. The blame ground has been prepared. If the UDC wins, they will say it's because they had deployed Madibelatlhopho. If they lose, we already know what they will say. That they have long said it. UDC must get on the ground and work.
This rigged elections narrative will not take us anywhere. As it is, we are not preparing to win elections. We are preparing an excuse for our anticipated loss of elections. The party president is even threatening violence should things not go the UDC way. 2019 has not taught him anything. He and his cheerleaders who insult us and say we are bought must just accept the truth that the BDP did not rig elections in 2019. They did their work on the ground, capitalized on numerous blunders by the UDC, coupled with the Masisi and Khama feud that clearly helped the BDP cause.
This time around, it almost looks likely that it is the BCP that will topple the BDP. Because the BCP cadres are working the ground and not preparing to cry rigging. Today the BCP is showing why it can be trusted and many undecided voters are leaning towards them. They practice intra-party democracy. They are focused. They speak the language voters want to hear. They are decent. They are government-like. They are at peace. They are practicing what they preach. In the meantime, UDC is talking electoral fraud. They are insulting those who call them out for bad governance.
They are still fighting for constituencies. Their members are at the courts. Their godfather in South Africa is planting seeds of civil strife for our country. Instead of advising on governance, he is sponsoring divisions within his own party, and encouraging the lawlessness he himself abhorred. When will things really settle at the UDC? Can we all get our political houses in order before it is too late. So that we don’t bark at the wrong tree in the end – like saying elections were rigged. Elections are rigged where we lose but are not rigged where we win. Hypocrisy. When we say these things out, we are insulted and told we have been bought by DIS and Domkrag. No care to look into why so many dissenting voices. Top figures can’t just leave the party one after the other with the same reasons being given, and still no one cares. These same issues come from afar - as way back as the time the likes of Reatile, Magama, Mabiletsa and others resigned.
There was the youth league leader Motsabakedi Khumoekae. Salakae also did write a mouthful. Today we have the likes of youth league leader Resego and Women's league leader Dr Nkoane. And there are others who like Dr Nkoane, have kept quiet for too long and continuing to do so while they remain inside with hope. The problem is, we are labeled enemies of the leader. That we are jealous of the leader. We are all about the leader. We do not care what people say, as long as Comrade Napoleon says it, he must be right. For every resignation or voice, there is a bucketful of insults waiting to be hurled. No tolerance at all. And we want people to believe we can govern? When we don’t entertain dissenting voices? Always ready to insult and not introspect? This Mindset Change mantra speaks to us. Let us begin with questioning the things that are being questioned by others. Get to the bottom of everything and proceed with the truth. Anything else will lead us the way to 2019 all over again, with either BDP or BCP coming off with flying colours while we chant the tired RIGGING slogan. TSHEPANG MOOKETSANE
