A “defiant” Reverend Biggie Butale has taken a virtual “not guilty” plea to all charges levelled against him by the party that he is leader of – the Botswana Patriotic Front. To boot, he told the party’s Disciplinary Committee that he considers the matter closed.
Lately, the former minister and Tati West MP has been in the news for a sexual escapade gone wrong as well as for falling out with what some see as the real leader of the BPF – former president, Ian Khama, who is also the founder and party patron.
As he apparently plans a dramatic return to the Botswana Democratic Party, Butale has been accused of recruiting members away from the BPF; of planning to “destroy” the BPF in the process of doing the latter; and of calling Khama a “dictator.” The Disciplinary Committee had asked him to respond to such charges in writing. BPF sources tell us that Butale has responded to the charges and in his response, denies the first two charges, expressing full confidence that he can defend himself in any forum. As regards the third charge, he reportedly justified why he made such statement at a Central Committee.
For too long now but unknown to most, Butale and Khama have not been happy campers. Matters came to a head after Butale, a married man and “Fire!” church pastor, got himself into a compromising position via sexual misconduct with a female student at the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. At a May 10, 2021 meeting called to discuss this issue, Butale went on an ill-fated tirade, accusing the party’s founder and patron, former president Ian Khama, of being a “dictator.”
The context is as follows: Butale had asked to leave the meeting room to allow other Central Committee members to deliberate on his matter. He refused and during a consequent tirade, called Khama a “dictator” who doesn’t qualify to attend Central Committee meetings. While the constitution doesn’t accord the patron such privilege, the party’s inaugural national congress did. Khama had earlier proposed that an investigation should be carried out to determine the validity of the allegations made by the BUAN student against Butale.
With as many eyewitnesses as they are, Butale could obviously not deny having called Khama a dictator. That being the case, he has justified his choice of words, stating in his response that what the BPF patron wanted him subjected to was a kangaroo-court process, which justified use of “dictator.”
Having thus explained himself, the BPF president is said to have closed out his letter by stating that he considered the matter to be over. In reality though, such decision will be made by the Disciplinary Committee. Butale is not out of the woods yet because the sexual misconduct case, in which he is on more fragile ground, is still pending.
There is belief within some BPF quarters that Butale was thrown to the wolves. Some other prominent politicians in society routinely get themselves into situations similar to his but are spared the public humiliation (and prosecution in some cases) by party “elders” who make vigorous behind-the-scenes intercession on their behalf. In some cases, victims are paid off. Some BPF members who are sympathetic to Butale believe that the same thing could have been done to protect not just Butale personally but the party image.
