Following a notice by lawyers, Kanjabanga & Associates, that their client, Rex Kagiso Seharane, could be about to stop the Botswana National Front Special Congress, the BNF Leader, Duma Boko, has hit back.
In a three page letter to Kanjabanga, Boko has said the original letter confuses and conflates issues in a manner that leaves one none the wiser as to what Kanjabanga’s client seeks. Boko said deciphering what Kanjabanga’s purported client wants is next to impossible.
Boko called a Special Congress following a tussle with members of his executive over whether the leadership was within its mandate to go ahead with Umbrella II. This followed the collapse of the first rounds of opposition talks in December last year.
“There is no proper lawful and or factual basis on which your client’s desires to have the Congress postponed can be entertained,” says Boko.
The BNF President then continues to say that, “Your client’s fulminations about the Congress being a poor political decision, if those are truly his views, are unfortunate and a healthy expression of different viewpoint. If and when he ever ascends to the leadership of the party he will take decisions accordingly. Until then it remains my duty as well as that of the present leadership of the party to take decisions in accordance with the constitution of the party and not your client’s whims and caprices.”
Boko then says a view by Kanjabanga’s client that a decision to hold the Congress is reviewable is “ill conceived but understandable since he [client] is not a lawyer. Please be so kind as to advise him of the correct legal position so he does not consume himself in a futile charade.”
He signs the letter off by warning that “in the circumstances we are unable to accede to your client’s request and the party’s attorneys are ready to deal with any application or litigation your client may bring.”
Boko’s says the fears expressed by Kanjabanga’s client should the Congress go ahead are forebodings of doom which are unfounded and only intended to besmirch the good standing of the Botswana National Front.
“It would be important to advise your client, in the unlikely event that he or any other person with whom he is associated, harbours any disruptive intentions regarding the Congress that the party is vigilant and has put in place very tight and strict protocols to ensure the smooth running of the Congress. Your client’s premonitions of doom are without basis.”
