Botswana National Front President Otsweletse Moupo has bared his soul at how he felt betrayed by those he had come to call close friends and comrades.
He said at the height of his troubles when he needed many friends only few were forthcoming.
He, however, was humbled by a phone call he received from his opposing number in the Botswana Democratic Party camp, President Festus Mogae, who counseled him with encouragement, telling him not to resign the BNF leadership position.
Moupo captured this when looking back to a host of difficulties that recently surrounded his private and public life.
The support from ordinary BNF members kept him going.
“Grassroots support was overwhelming. The ordinary members of the public from across the political divide sympathized.”
But he does not say the same about his long time bosom friends, some of whom went beyond plotting his downfall, but calling for his resignation.
It all started some time in the middle of the year when the BNF leader went to London whereupon he was reported to have been stranded without enough money to see himself through the rest of the visit.
Still smarting from the London public embarrassment the Law Society of Botswana listed his company as one of those companies that had failed to comply with the requirements.
He was, therefore, denied a Fedelity Certificate, followed by a media frenzy over his indebtedness.
Attacked from every corner with some of his friends calling for his resignation he chose instead to go on a sabbatical leave.
He said at the Mahalapye leadership the ordinary members did not want him to go on sabbatical leave, but to stay put and resolve his problems from within.
Then there was a small group that viciously wanted him not to go on sabbatical but to resign.
“There have been differences of opinion. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem comes when people decide to go public with what is effectively internal party matters,” he said.
During the interview with The Sunday Standard Moupo also said his firm has since met all the requirements as set by the Law Society Act.
He was expecting to be readmitted into the roll, he said.
Without going into detail over how he ran into troubles, he said it all started when his company lost key members of staff; two accountants in a short spell of time.
From then on everything fell off the rails.
He said contrary to allegations doing rounds that his company owed millions, the true figure was just over P200 000.
He, however, would not disclose how he raised the money to pay the debts. He also said it was not true that his car was at any point impounded as was reported.
“I don’t think if my debts were to the magnitude that people are talking about I would have recovered,” he said.
“As a leader there are things you have to keep away even from your closest followers. The BDP tried to link me with some mysterious financiers because honestly they did not know why I went to London.
On the other hand my comrades started flaunting all sorts of theories because they were also desperate because of what we were going through as a party,” he said.
