At its second elective congress over the weekend, the BMDYL will elect new leaders who will hold office for the next two years. While the three day congress kicks off on Friday, many will be waiting in anticipation for Election Day on Saturday, when incumbent youth chairman Phenyo Mokete Segokgo will face off with his challenger Roger Mphafe. Already daggers have been drawn as the campaign is in full swing. The two camps have unsheathed their swords and dirty tricks are in full play. Last week the party leadership called for calm as the two opposing camps unleashed dirty trick campaigns on the media, characterized by mudslinging, lies and outright insults that have polarized the BMD youth and are threatening to tear the mother body apart.
It’s all out war between Segokgo and Mphafe. While both leaders have stayed clear of the insults and mudslinging, they have employed attack dogs who have thrown civility and caution to the wind, employing creative campaigns and hurling insults in the same breath as they battle for control of the BMDYL. Mphafe’s team coined catchy tag line #RogerThat while Segokgo’s team claimed victory even before the polls with their tag line #TeamPhenyo. As the campaign gained momentum, Mphafe’s team became more vicious and militant.
#TeamPhenyo immediately changed tact and appealed for calm, changing their tag line to #Botho, a direct jab at their opponents’ unbecoming conduct on social media. Not to be outdone, Mphafe’s team retaliated with another tagline #Bokgoni, in which they cast aspersions on Segokgo’s leadership abilities and his track record as President of BMDYL over the last three years. They argued that a team that brings capable leaders is far much better than one that only boasts of obedience and good manners.
Even former BMD heavy weight Botsalo Ntuane, who has since defected to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), was dragged into the fray as Mphafe’s team accused him of financing Segokgo’s campaign and drafting his manifesto. Segokgo was also accused of embezzling party funds that were donated by the Democratic Alliance in South Africa. The incumbent BMDYL President was portrayed as a power monger who wanted to juggle multiple political roles. But Segokgo came out with guns blazing at his last press conference as BMDYL President on Monday. Instead of giving his detractors a dose of their own medicine, Segokgo adopted a more amiable demeanor, saying the attacks on him were to be expected as he was a leader of the BMDYL. He laughed off the allegations that were leveled against him and preached unity among BMD youth.
“While my detractors were busy tarnishing my name on social media, I was crisscrossing the country preaching unity. We have serious issues to worry about and we should not waste time on petty talk and mudslinging. The youth are unemployed, our education is in shambles and the economy has nothing for us. These are the issues that my team will focus on,” he said.
While attending Segokgo’s press conference on Monday, Mphafe suffered a deafening blow when he received a phone call from Gabz FM notifying him that they were in possession of a letter from Chairman of Ramotswa region, Isaiah Keipeile announcing the region’s decision to suspend him from the party forthwith. A shaken Mphafe stormed out to call party leaders, Gilbert Mangole and Ndaba Gaolathe who all claimed ignorance of his suspension. While not much is known about Mphafe’s current status in the party, the hostile mood ahead of the congress suggests that he could be facing a coup d’├®tat that could bring to an end his short but tempestuous stay at the BMD.
Mphafe’s camp released their manifesto earlier, in which they practically tabled a motion of no confidence on Segokgo and his administration. The manifesto paints Segokgo as a failure who never delivered on the promises he made when he took the reins in Selibe-Phikwe in 2012 where he thrashed Rasina Rasina of the infamous ‘Operation Tsaya Puso’ faction. It is difficult to blame Mphafe for dwelling on what he views as Segokgo’s failures because in every election where the incumbent seeks re-election, the only target becomes his weak points. That is, the only way to convince people why the incumbent needs to be removed is by proving that he failed to earn his re-election. The danger though is, by dwelling too much on Segokgo’s leadership postmortem, Mphafe ended up not promulgating his aspirations, mission and vision for the BMD youth. The bulk of his manifesto was dedicated to castigating Segokgo’s leadership.
On the other hand, Segokgo steered clear of mudslinging and concentrated more on bread and butter issues. He presented an articulate and precise manifesto, which is perhaps the reason why his opponents think Botsalo Ntuane, a prolific writer and think tank, had a hand in crafting it.
Segokho’s manifesto begins thus: “All young people in Botswana aspire to full participation in society. However, there exist different natural and man-made hurdles and roadblocks that impede progress and development for the youth. While we acknowledge that adults have every right to guide the youth and help prepare them for the future, there appears to be ambiguity as to how, when and why this should happen. It is our deepest and profound belief that meaningful youth development and empowerment can only be achieved if the concerns and aspirations of Botswana’s young people are addressed with and for them, through participatory and inclusive mechanisms. For this reason, our team believes that the time has come to advocate formulation, implementation and follow-up processes in a more organized manner.”
Mphafe begins with: “What has changed since the Phikwe watershed congress? This is one critical question we ought to ask ourselves as we approach the second elective congress of the BMD youth league. As the league and the movement at large, we have reached an imperative point where we need honest introspection. For three years, the BMD has failed to utilize the endless opportunities of growth afforded by the ruling BDP. It is an open secret that young Batswana in good numbers are frustrated by the BDP despotism. Like never before, we see young Batswana eager to participate in reshaping and restoring the integrity of their country. They are ready to put a fight against all threats to economic stability, peace and democracy. Young people are very alive to the fact that their country is under siege and they seem ready to defend it at all costs. What the BMDYL should do, which it failed to do in the past three years, is to tap into the skills of these young people and fully utilize their energies to bring about the much desired change in Botswana. BMDYL needs to strategically position the youth in the forefront to drive the ‘change’ agenda.”
Political pundits have commended the two leaders for raising the bar in youth politics by coming up with manifestos.
“It’s impressive for these future leaders to have come up with manifestos in which they clearly invested time and effort. This shows that they will soon be ready for national leadership,” they said.
