Philip Makgalemele needed an early night. After a weekend of playing cat and mouse with friends and relatives the Shoshong MP could not stay up beyond six o’ Clock Monday evening.
“I am tired, I need to rest, let us talk tomorrow morning,” he said as he wisecracked himself out of an interview. Makgalemele did not expect much sleep.
His catalogue of tribulations includes friends and family members who are unhappy with his decision to rejoin the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and rumours that had already started swirling that he had been bought by the ruling party.
He flew in from Kasane over the weekend worse for wear and asked for time off from friends to wrestle with his demons.
He texted colleagues in the BMD assuring them that he is not for sale and could not be bought. He asked for space to consult his family. Makgalemele, however, stayed away from a family meeting on Sunday which was planned to dissuade him from rejoining the BDP and would not take calls from friends in the BMD.
In an earlier interview with the Telegraph, Makgalemele said he was aware that there were rumours doing the rounds that he had been offered money to join the BDP.
“I still live a moderate life and I’m at peace with myself.” Friends who are privy to Makgalemele’s finances and have been watching him doing the two step dance routine between the two BDP factions, however, cannot shake off the suspicion that the Shoshong MP may have been bought. During his brief stint in parliament, he has cast himself as an opportunist who is not for sale, but for rent to the highest bidder.
Makgalemele was part of the BDP Barata-Phathi group that last October hatched a plan with opposition party members to share among themselves seats for MPs to be considered by parliament for special nomination.
Although President Khama had control of the BDP Parliamentary caucus he stood to lose control of parliament as a result of the loose alliance between Barata Phathi and opposition members of parliament. For the first time in the history of Botswana parliament the opposition had inherited the balance of power in the war of numbers between the two BDP warring factions.
Khama would not give any of the four slots for specially elected MPs to Barata-Phathi as this would compromise the already slim majority enjoyed by the BDP A-Team in the party parliamentary caucus.
The Barata-Phathi plan, however, unraveled on the floor of parliament as Makgalemele and a few others went back on their earlier decision and backed President Khama’s choice of specially elected MPs. Makgalemele had probably been promised a cabinet post in return.
When his bid for cabinet was spurned, he rejoined Barata-Phathi faction but stayed behind when some MPs broke away to form the BMD. Makgalemele’s name was, however, being whispered among those preparing to defect to the BMD.
Sometime last month, Makgalemele and three of his councilors, Neo Magowe of Dovedale/Mmaphashalala, Bobby Babusi (nominated), and former Councillor for Kalamare, Moses Ntwaagae, announced that they were leaving BDP to join the BMD. The Shoshong quartet said they had resigned from the BDP mainly because there was no inner party democracy and “some misguided policies currently that are being implemented”.
In a signed statement they said they had concluded that defection “was a good devil at times, especially when a political organization loses direction. We strongly feel that the BDP and elected representatives need each other equally,” they said.
They stated that since the Kanye congress things had not been well in the ruling party; they cited “disrespect” for Chairman Daniel Kwelagobe by some A-team faction members, who were not disciplined. They accused the BDP president of favouring some members over others, and pointed out that disciplinary action applied selectively.
Makgalemele and company accused A- team members in the central committee of undermining the mediation efforts of former President Sir Ketumile Masire.
They also expressed reservations about the caucus system that does not allow MPs and Councilors to freely express their, or the views of their constituents. They asked for forgiveness from colleagues who might be shocked by their exit from the BDP: “We have no option, given the circumstances,” they said.
They had delayed resigning from the BDP hoping for self-introspection, “but the only thing we see are public rallies where people are attacked without addressing the real problems facing the BDP,” they said.
Makgalemele and his team said they had considered remaining within the BDP to influence change from within but had come to the conclusion that the environment will never change and that, “we could ourselves be ‘disciplined’ for saying our views in the process”.
In a shocking about turn, Makgalemele this week told The Telegraph that, “I have never been at peace with myself since I took the decision to join BMD. I realized that I should have fought issues from inside. My family and constituents put pressure on me to rejoin the BDP.”
