Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) inner circle has received intelligence that suspended party parliamentary candidate for Mogoditshane, Tshepang Mabaila drove Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) President Duma Boko to Mosu for a meeting with former President Ian Khama.
The former president allegedly gave Boko P 800 000 in cash for use at the recent Botswana National Front (BNF) Congress in Rakops, as a sweetner for the BNF president to launch a motion of no confidence against Masisi. While the BNF president has been under preassure to account for the money he lavishly spent at the Rakops conference, Mabaila has denied ever going to Mosu with Boko..
So far, the intelligence is nothing but a rumour. This however has added to the unease especially inside President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s inner circle about the influence of untraceable “dark money” and how it will shape Botswana’s political landscape.
With Khama and Masisi feuding the former president allegedly wants UDC to remain strong enough to team up with a BDP faction that supports him and so aligned, use parliamentary processes to topple Masisi.
Masisi will be leading a broke BDP to the 2019 general elections up against an adversary with a huge war chest. The BDP at its congress in Gaborone earlier this year tried to raise money in preparations for what promises to be one of its most difficult elections. The biggest pledge came from former president Lt Gen Ian Khama who committed P 2 million towards the BDP elections campaign. Khama is however understood to have silently withdrawn his pledge. BDP Treasurer Satar Dada confirmed that Khama had pledged P 2 million but said he was not aware that the former president had withdrawn the pledge. “We have been hearing stories, but he has not officially informed me that he was withdrawing the pledge. He is still a BDP member and as far as I m aware his pledge still stands”, he said.
There are however fears that Khama may divert the money towards helping his fight against Masisi. Khama’s political love affair with Boko started around the same time that the BNF president came up with a motion of no confidence against president Masisi. President Masisi and his inner circle received intelligence that the no confidence motion by Boko was a pre condition imposed by Khama before he could release the money.
Other BDP major sponsors expected to turn against Masisi are Israel based military supply companies which have been benefitng from the Botswana government procurements.
The 2014 BDP campaign was sponsored by the Israelis through former Director General of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) Isaac Kgosi. As part of the sponsorship package, scores of Israeli consultants with links to the Israeli spy outfit Mossad helped set up a “war room” for the BDP in the run up to the elections. The Israeli consultants who headed the BDP war room, Timor Consultancy was headed by Adi Temor who first made international headlines as second in command at GCS International which was branded a Mossad front by the Romanian media during the 2012 Romanian election campaign. Timor personally worked with President Traian Basescu of Romania during the campaign, alongside GCS Chief Executive Officer Tal Silberstein reported to be a Mossad agent.
Following the sacking of Kgosi as head of DIS, the Israeli donors are expected to use their largesse to support Kgosi and Khama against Masisi. The former DIS boss is believed to be enjoying the support of Israeli spy sleeper cells in Botswana which the new DISS boss Peter Magosi has allegedly not been able to demobilize.
While the BDP has no money, Khama and his allies are reported to be awash with cash.
The BDP treasurer Satar Dada has already set off alarm bells that the party is broke.
