Patrick Masimolole had already made up his mind on how he would vote in the elections for nominated members of parliament. Then he got the call from the Office of the President. The voice on the other end of the phone dropped the bombshell: President Lt Gen Ian Khama was considering him for a Cabinet position and would be getting in touch with him soon.
It was a moment that changed the BDP faction’s fight for the control of Parliament.
The Member of Parliament for Mogoditshane had spent the past few days cooped up in meetings with other members of Barata-Phathi faction. They were planning to takeover the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) parliamentary caucus from the A-Team faction led by President Lt Gen Ian Khama.
President Khama and his A-Team faction looked dead in the water. The president was hoping that his list of four names would win seats in parliament. The numbers, however, were not humming along. Khama’s faction had 23 members in parliament while Barata-Phathi had 22. This gave the president a slippery grip on the BDP parliamentary caucus.
He needed the additional four seats to strengthen his hand, but there was a slight problem: The rival Barata Phathi faction had already cut a deal with opposition members of parliament and would vote in two opposition MPs and two Barata-Phathi MPs. Control of the BDP parliamentary caucus would then change hands to Barata-Phathi faction.
This would effectively reduce Khama to a lame duck president. With the numbers on their side, Barata-Phathi would steer the BDP ship in parliament, push through their motions and even block some cabinet bills.
Most Barata-Phathi members were, however, running on empty stomachs. Khama decided to dangle a few carrots. If they cut a deal with him, they would eat. If they held out in the rival faction, they would starve. For most, switching camps seemed like a good idea at the time. Rather than endlessly engage in inconclusive fights with the president while starving, scores of Barata-Phathi members opted for chauffeur driven 7 series BMWs, huge salary packages and all the creature comforts that accompany the “honourable minister” title. In return, they would vote for the president’s choice of nominated MPs.
A few hours before stepping through the parliament door to vote for nominated Members of Parliament, Barata-Phathi leaders were having a mutiny in their hands. Shoshong Member of Parliament, Philip Makgalemele who was tipped to be the Minister of Sports and Culture announced that he would not be voting against the president. He told his colleagues that his constituency had warned him against fighting the President.
Kagiso Mmusi who had allegedly been promised the Ministry of Commerce also broke ranks. The trickle of disaffected MPs snowballed into a wave of dissent with Barata-Phathi diehards like Utlwang Matlhabaphiri and Guma Moyo joining in.
A few minutes before parliament convened, the 22 member strong Barata Phathi had been whittled down to ten. Even with the support of 12 opposition members of parliament, they could not out vote Khama. The plan to oppose the President’s choice of specially elected members was abandoned on the parliament floor.
For a few short hours, the long-divided BDP appeared to be singing from the same song sheet with Barata-Phathi and A-Team factions backing the president’s choice for Vice President and nominated MPs.
It quickly became clear that Khama would not keep his end of the bargain. None of the Barata-Phathi defectors was appointed to Cabinet. By the end of last week, the president’s deal seemed to have brought nothing but trouble, as its many Barata-Phathi and A-Team critics predicted. Tales of A-Team members’ outrage against being left out of the president’s list of nominated MPs and Barata-Phathi defectors anger at being deceived gave the lie to claims that the president had managed to steady the BDP ship, which has been listing in troubled waters for sometime.
By Monday morning it was becoming clear that Khama and his supporters may be forced to go back on their initial plan to make former BNF Member of Parliament, Robert Molefhabangwe, Gaborone City Mayor. Barata-Phathi defectors are still smarting from the president’s alleged deception and may regroup again.
Barata-Phathi has more members in the Gaborone City Council.
