President of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Duma Boko has been the helmsman of the party for several years now, but a sizeable number of people are still searching and trying to figure out the ideology and doctrine that guides his haphazard decision-making on internal affairs.
Although some officials in the UDC often say that Boko possesses some long-held beliefs, he has proved overtime that he does not have a core ideology. No one in the party is brave enough to challenge him to clarify his constant contradictions and it is now quite clear that he does not have a precise dogma, apart from vague set of political interests and beliefs he personally holds.
For those who have an eye that is able to see beyond the corner, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi and Duma Boko’s trajectories seem quite clear. In blunt terms, it won’t be smooth sailing as both men have to contend with choppy waters before they are able to steer their respective parties to safe shores.
There is a widespread feeling that the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) is in more ways than one doomed and this will only be reinforced by the outbreak of unfriendliness between Advocate Pilane of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and Duma Boko. If Boko’s UDC thought Advocate Pilane was someone they could throw out the door like rotten tomatoes then they will learn the hard way that disunity has become baked into the party possibly unable to get beyond its dysfunction without a cleansing period in opposition. Now Boko and his coterie in the UDC have to painfully endure the sniping of Advocate Pilane, the man they suspended with the intention to ultimately annihilate him.
Hate and war is a very volatile mix. Advocate Pilane had to endure the sniping of Boko and his cronies in the UDC. Now Pilane, the man they suspended ÔÇô sort of ish ÔÇô is the sniper at the window and the UDC is now in his crosshairs.
This is not new but basically a rerun of the old script. We can assume Advocate Pilane’s mood is dark and that is perfectly normal. The only problem is this is dangerous for the UDC, especially as many voters neither appreciate nor welcome the see saw taking place at the top.
The weekend held by Advocate Pilane has undermined Boko and the UDC as a party. It has cast doubt on Boko’s personal credibility as the man in charge.
It’s no surprise that Boko’s attempts to define his policies and what he really stands for confuse Batswana, because the labels are constantly changing every now and then. It seems there is just no absolute way to predict Boko’s future decisions based on past actions.
Political analyst, Ronald Dintle, who spoke to this publication indicated that “the rally that was held over the weekend by Pilane simply means that Boko has been left with some explaining to do. Advocate Pilane is actually removing the gloss of Boko’s face.”
Like Trump, Boko seems not to have a solid view, but he has a Duma Boko view and the public and even members of his party are not sure of how to handle it. The result is that the UDC is now characterised by unpredictability.
“Unpredictability could have been an asset to the UDC if only it were deliberate. This is probably why Pilane is able to walk over Boko because he knows that the UDC leader does not have a precise dogma to guide him. You would actually need a microscope to figure out what Boko exactly stands for. His policy is whatever he says on a given day.
According to Dintle the decision to suspend Pilane or whatever you call it was a response to increasing public concern. “The UDC thought the suspension would result in the public pressure subsiding. It has not. It has actually added fuel to the fire but the UDC won’t admit it, evidently because to do so might show that they are weak (which they are) and unable to out rightly and firmly resolve this issue once and for all,” says Dintle.
Observably, it was a dicey move for the UDC to suspend Pilane, but equally, it was provocative of Pilane to air his disagreement with the party publicly and humiliating them in the process.
While it might not have been intentional or unintentional, the party’s policies have had the effect of dividing the opposition. By all accounts they are so engrossed with furthering their agenda and attaining state power and their policies echo this by imposing on, rather than serving, Batswana interests.Advertisement
Unpredictability could have been an asset to the UDC if only it were deliberate. Pilane is now able to walk over Boko because he knows that the UDC leader does not have a precise dogma to guide him. You would actually need a microscope to figure out what Boko exactly stands for.
