Botswana Congress Party founding President Michael Dingake has cautioned the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) against falling prey to former President Ian Khama’s antics.
He is all the more worried that Khama may use the coalition project as a springboard to fight his personal battles with President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi.
Dingake said this as the UDC prepares to form a coalition with both the Alliance for Progressives (AP) and the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) whose patron is Khama.
He said it is highly likely that Khama will have an influence in the UDC through the BPF, adding that should that be allowed to happen it will affect the coalition project chances of success in the 2024 general elections.
“The UDC needs to be very careful around Khama because the last thing opposition needs is to find themselves acting as the Botswana Democratic Party,” he warned.
“At these negotiations, they should be able to trust one another. The political ideologies should also be identical because it would be suicidal to have two different motives,” he warned.
The BCP veteran further said having two different political ideologies within the UDC could make the country ungovernable once the UDC attains state power.
“UDC should not just conclude that just because they are in discussions as opposition parties then that means they share the same vision. They should be collectively targeting to unearth and willing to address issues affecting Batswana,” said Dingake.
He further challenged the UDC leadership to question Khama’s level of involvement in opposition politics.
“We all know what happened in the lead up to the last general elections where there were internal battles within the BDP which led to the formation of the BPF which some still believe it was formed to launch personal battles against Masisi,” said Dingake.
“UDC should not be allowed to be used in such battles. In fact, they should know that electorates will be looking at how things will be unfolding. This is the right time for them to do things right to have the full support of Batswana,” added Dingake.
Dingake said it remains improbable for the BPF to leave Khama behind, stating that the former President continues to play a major role in the party.
“No one should fear to ask Khama whether or not he has relinquished his old ruling methods he deployed while still with BDP. He should come out and speak,” said Dingake.
He said that as the BCP veteran he continues to engage with party leadership.
“I continuously engage with the BCP leadership whenever they want my advice. They also continue to update me on the health of the party,” said Dingake.
For his part, Political Science lecturer at the University of Botswana Kealeboga Dipogiso said the opposition is a cacophony of voices and there is currently no clarity as to what qualifies a member organisation into the fold apart from the desire to remove the BDP from power.
He further said the unity is centered on decimating the over five decades of BDP rule, adding that the assessment or scrutiny suggested by Dingake of BPF intentions will be a new thing.
“I have always suggested that UDC coalition parties must develop institutions that not only assess applications into their fold, but also from time to time evaluate the relevance of coalescing parties, including the value that they continually add. These may be in terms of the organizational proficiency of an interested party, its ideological inclination and probably strategic positioning to determine the level of necessity to coalesce,” said Dipogiso.
He further said he still holds the view that Khama is unable to single handedly render opposition electable.
“The coalition must be careful when making this assessment. Before 2019, there were issues of legitimacy of the so called loose pact where some members were discontented about his inclusion because the opposition had been making negative remarks about his personality,” said Dipogiso.
“Not only that, his inclusion reversed the gains that the UDC had amassed through the support of the labour movement, because the latter was also unsettled by his inclusion,” added Dipogiso.
He also stated that the UDC houses disgruntled former members of the BDP who defected on the basis of a sour relationship with him, to accept him created discomfort for some of them.
“Put together, all these make it very imperative for UDC to efficiently assess the cost and benefits of having BPF in the coalition,” said Dipogiso.
With regard to whether BPF will make the cut outside UDC, Dipogiso said his assessment is that it is very less likely to be the case.
“It is likely to suffer the fate that BCP suffered, and with the BPF it might be extreme because it is yet to establish itself beyond the influence of Khama. The history of defecting parties is such that they take time to grow, and almost all of them have ran into extinction or simply weigh very little in terms of influence,” said Dipogiso.
He also cast doubt that Khama possesses any potential to defy the convention, stating that his party’s popularity is confined to the Central District.
“I also doubt that the BPF will exist beyond Khama because as I always mention it is a party formed to protect his interests. Currently, it’s popularity in the central district is hinged on his presence and influence as a patron who is available at all party event and is the face of the party,” said Dipogiso.
Last month, Chairperson of opposition cooperation forum Dr Margaret Nasha told a media briefing that so far, cooperating partners have come up with proposals for putting together a comprehensive framework for Opposition Cooperation.
Nasha indicated that the three parties will meet again next week Friday to discuss, distill and merge one agreed document as the parties seek to work with each other in the upcoming general elections.
“We shared those proposals at our last meeting and they will be discussed, distilled and merged into one agreed document at a meeting to be held on the 15th of October 2021,” said Nasha.
She further said negotiating parties are expected to digest the framework proposals and give guidance to the Committee, in time for the meeting of the 15th of October.
“We have set ourselves a target to conclude that process before we break for Christmas this year, so that we can begin our negotiations in earnest in the beginning of 2022, our intention is to feed you with as much information as we can, as the process unfolds and becomes more interesting to you and the electorate,” added Nasha.
