Some concerned BDP activists are wary that the numerous blunders being committed by the current political lords might cost the party victory in the 2019 general election after President Khama’s presidential term comes to an end in 2018. They say the straw that broke the camel’s back was the failure to save thousands jobs at the BCL mine in Selibe-Phikwe in its hour of need. The mine was recently placed under provisional liquidation pending the outcome of the liquidator’s report. High Court appointed liquidator, Nigel Dixon-Warren is expected to complete and deliver his report early next year.
The activists are adamant that it will take a political genius to save their party from losing the coming general elections based on the numerous economic and political blunders to date.
“It is high time that we do not live in denial. Our leadership has committed irreparable damage to the future of our once mighty political party. It is an undeniable fact that our party is on a free fall. We are currently ruling because Botswana Congress Party was not part of the opposition coalition in the past general election. With the imminence of BCP joining the umbrella coalition, there is no way we are going to win the next general election. Coupled to that, we have also as a party committed too many economic and political blunders,” said the senior party member who preferred anonymity.
First, it was the unprecedented 2010 split of the party that subsequently led to the formation of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) which immediately joined hands with existing opposition political parties.
“Currently we are ruling with less than 50 percent of popular vote. What does that mean? The simple answer is that we are in serious trouble. It does not need a political expert to tell us that we are headed for opposition. The opposition is busy consolidating themselves to wrestle power from us. If you were present at the recent Selibe-Phikwe opposition party leaders’ press conference and star rally, you would undoubtedly know that we are in for hard times. Regime change is inevitable yet we continue to commit economic blunders that embolden the marauding opposition,” said the party activists.
He said after the formation of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), BDP political strategists should have sat the leadership down and tutored them holistically on how to foil an opposition political onslaught.
“What happened with Morupule B is simple economic catastrophe of unimaginable proportion. The project power plant project is a complete failure that will haunt us eternally. We invested billions of Pula in the construction of the power plant which to date is still failing to deliver the anticipated economic results compelling us to depend on power exports for economic survival. News abound that the discrepancies need further billions of Pula to rectify. There is talk that our government is even mulling of selling the project to the initial contractor.
“As if that were not enough, we further invested millions of Pula into the failed Palapye Glass project. These are just some of the few economic blunders that Batswana will dearly punish us in the not so distant future,” said the aggrieved activist, adding that the leadership does seem to learn and remedy its shortcomings which are seriously hurting the economy.
The activist said the party’s economic planners and advisors ought to up their game to ensure that similar mistakes do not recur.
“The moment the Chinese economy started busting with the resultant fall in commodity prices, our economic advisors should have projected the envisaged impact on BCL and come up with tangible means of averting an economic catastrophe. They instead slept on their job until the BCL creditors slapped us with their letters of demand to deliver on our obligations. The end result is where we are now. Why are we hesitant to make action against the people who allowed this to happen to us? Are these public officers indispensable? If they are, why are heads not immediately rolling? Little wonder the opposition is capitalising on all these mistakes to shore up their support to the extent of accusing us of scheming to loot the national economy on grand scale,” said another equally distraught top BDP politician.
His view is that if government exercised prudence and saved the diamond industry by injecting billions of Pula into Cut Eight project, why can’t a similar dispensation be undertaken for BCL? It is an economic fact that commodity prices are cyclical and government, as the sole owner of BCL, should not dice around with the employment of thousands of workers by not recapitalizing with the hope that once the commodity prices rebound, accruing profits will be surrendered back to national coffers.
“Foreign reserves have of late been on the increase. Did we not tell the nation that we are building the foreign reserves for economic calamities? Then why are we not dipping into the reserves to save the BCL? Are we deliberately handing over state power to the opposition on a silver platter? It is prudent that we tap into the foreign reserves and save the BCL. If we did it with a corporation like Debswana that we partially own, why can’t we do it to save a corporation that we 100 percent own?”, asked the politician.
He said the opposition is correct in holding the government to prudently manage the economy because without sound economic decisions, it then shows that the ruling party is not serious about the economic welfare of its own people.
Listening to BMD president Ndaba Gaolathe explaining the economic fundamentals, you are bound to agree with him that our political leaders have lost the economic plot. Gaolathe succinctly lectured the affected BCL miners on macro-economic models that government should have embarked on as a blue print before abruptly taking the irrational and irresponsible decision of placing BCL on provisional liquidation which has caused more social and political harm to the miners and the nation at large.
“We agree that the country continues to face numerous economic challenges and BCL should have been treated as one. Our government has abdicated social responsibility and there is no doubt that we are bound to be punished seriously for the BCL mess in the general election. It is not late for our government to tap on the foreign reserves and bail out the beleaguered BCL. Even the custodians of the foreign reserves at the central bank would fault government for taking that kind of a decision to save BCL and the Selibe-Phikwe township,” said the BDP disgruntled activist.
He added that Botswana Chambers of Mines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charles Siwawa has already alluded to the fact that BCL and Tati Nickel mines will with no doubt find private suitors who are lying in wait for the liquidator’s final decision.
The aggrieved BDP politician said once the mine is sold to private owners, the opposition is going to use the situation to their advantage for political gain.
