It takes a humongous effort and immense destructive energy to fell a colossus. For fifty (50) years, the monument called the Botswana Democratic Party fortified itself with official lies, deceit and ill-gotten money to dominate Botswana’s political landscape. Working in concert with unscrupulous business elites that benefited heavily from government tenders and contracts, the BDP assumed a false hegemony that relegated the opposition parties to the margins. It is now common cause that as the BDP arrogantly refused to accede to state funding of political parties, it was secretly going to bed with De Beers, a multi-national that was doing business with the country. The party and its leaders raked in large sums of money in shady deals that were calculated to breathe life into this monstrosity called Domkrag. The party also used the radio and lately the power of television to create an aura of invincibility around itself.
As the future beckons, BDP is faced with a terminal condition. It has the money, it has its business backers, it has the radio, it boasts of a monopoly of television, It has patronage networks and most importantly, it has the state apparatus of coercion and specifically in this case it is aided by a hugely resourced intelligence services. Even, with these obvious advantages, the BDP is headed for collapse. Its vital organs have ceased functioning. First the supreme leader in Khama has failed the leadership test. He has failed to rise above trivia and petty posturing. He has allowed a coterie of pitiful political dwarfs to maroon him to their parochial agenda. He has become a hostage to political vagabonds who care less about the country but themselves. The A-team to which Khama is affiliated comprises of nothing else but crafty and rabid opportunists who could easily outclass the biblical Judas. As long as they enjoy ministerial positions and other special appointments, everything is secondary including the life of the party and the country.
Secondly, the BDP leader and his henchmen have alienated a broad section of the tried and tested foot soldiers who breathed life into the party. The very people who know what is meant by sacrifice for the organization have been sidelined in favour of overzealous fair weather cadres who sustain themselves by continuously dropping Khama’s name. No organization, especially in this rough and tumble world of politics would survive without seasoned activists and the BDP is no exception. Third, it is the structures. Since Khama, party structures have become irrelevant and loyalty to the leader is the ticket to political success Party Chairman Daniel Kwelagobe attested to this in his address to the recent Party National Council. The strategy by Barata-Phathi to adopt a scorched earth policy of destroying party structures as they flee to BMD will complicate matters even further for the BDP. Fourth is the hemorrhage of youth support from the once mighty party. The mass resignation of the party youth league and the hostility displayed by young people to the BDP in Face book pages spells doom for the BDP. The party is fast losing capacity for regeneration. It is in fact on a highway to death.
As the BDP collapse under the heavy weight of its leader, it shall inevitably attempt to survive. The turn of events is predictable. The party shall intensify its abuse of incumbency. State resources shall be abused with impunity to appease a restless electorate and pacify a worried nation. Air waves will be closed to alternative opinion. Harassment of political opponents will escalate. DIS will be deployed as an additional layer of the party to replace defunct structures. Populist and short term programs will be mounted. Economic fundamentals will be disregarded and we will run a huge deficit and debt in the next few years. A massive election rigging machinery is likely to be mobilized shortly. Acts of political thuggery sponsored by the dying party will emerge. Purchase and black mail of high profile opposition leaders will become common place and a lot of other strange political developments will ensue. All this happens when post independence parties in Africa are headed for the grave. They normally would want to go down with the whole nation.
The collapse of a colossus is normally greeted by excitement and confusion. Appetite for power is wetted especially from those who have spent their lives in the dark alleys of opposition politics or in the frosty avenues of factional marginalization. They begin to see real prospects of ruling and enjoying power. Jostling and strategic positioning becomes the preoccupation even before power is attained. This could present real opportunities for the colossus to strike. In our situation, it is imperative that as the BDP collapses, we avoid excitement and confusion. We must keep our eyes on the ball and do first things first. We must strengthen our capacity to engage the BDP to the very end. Our structures, be at the level of political parties and other change inspired institutions should be well coordinated to produce actions that serve the best interest of Batswana. It is imperative that a national dialogue for change that comprises political parties, trade unions, progressive churches and interested civil society organs be put in place to manage this important phase of Botswana’s political development. It cannot be left to chance.
