After the 2004 General Elections, in which the Opposition Parties gained 13 Parliamentary seats (BNF 12 and BCP 1), I was assigned to draft a working paper on what the BDP could do to mitigate the fallout occasioned by Bulela Ditswe and improve chances of winning over seats the Party lost to Opposition. The Paper was to be presented to the Central Committee. Bulela Ditswe had then, (as now), caused heartache resulting in the disgruntlement of many contestants some of whom are thought to have sabotaged the Party by not voting in the general elections or at worst voting with the Opposition.
One of the recommendations adopted was to run Bulela Ditswe earlier, in Opposition held seats than in BDP held seats. This was meant to leave sufficient time for BDP Candidates to position themselves in the Constituency and as well to allow for a cooling off period, whilst undertaking peaceful rendezvous internally. Contestations for political office, be it Central Committee Elections or Parliamentary Primary Elections have always been a hotly contested affair, and a fertile ground for instability.
The Opposition UDC has also not been spared. For them it is a dire 3-fold manifestation or should I say quagmire. The immediate past Gaborone West Bophirima Ward By elections resulted in the BCP of the UDC squaring against what others referred to as the BNF of UDC. Currently, BCP is fighting BCP, BNF is fighting BNF and BCP and BNF are at each other’s throat and as if that is not enough, the writ for Moselewapula Ward in Francistown has been issued. “Dilo tsa lona di thata jang”, as Moruti Thuso Tiego will say.
Could it be that we are sour losers generally, or could it be telling that there are fundamental flaws in our internal election processes, or could it be both? And the animosity created is mind-boggling. I wish scholars of Political Science could lay bare the causes and proffer solutions to this predicament. A case in point on the animosity: one of my friends had won a bitterly fought BDP Bulela Ditswe Parliamentary contest. We were generally agreed that he calls the loosing Candidate for a truce and that they should let bygones be bygones and work for the common good of the Party. We put the phone on loudspeaker and my friend was very courteous in his introduction laying out precisely why he called.
It was huffs and puffs from the other end, with our colleague throwing salvos, until my friend apologized for calling as he was battered from left, right and centre. He was told in no uncertain terms he should forget about the support. My friend ended up losing the General Elections. The animosity continues unabated to this day, and I can believe that the ‘twosome’ are going to square up in the upcoming Bulela Ditswe. My guess is as good as yours, the BDP is not going to win this constituency unless the Party leadership steps in and brings the two parties together preaching compromise.
That said, if I were to do a repeat of the assignment on Bulela Ditswe, I will most definitely recommend a review. The recommendation I made then that Bulela Ditswe should be held much earlier in Opposition held seats, was a short-term solution since the problem persists. We have instances where the animosity would run until the election day as per the example I gave above. The sad part is that it is not only the Candidates that feel aggrieved, some of their diehard supporters as well and they would go with their Candidate. I can bet that some of our Parliamentary Candidates who lost including their diehard fans would have gone on to vote with the opposition.
The Review of Bulela Ditswe would entail doing away with casting of vote as the only determining factor. The current system promotes buying of votes through dowries and cash especially when the elections are about. It also breeds an undesirable disorder going by the name, “ntudisa molwatswana” where some voters will have more than one Party membership card during the Primary Election period. There is always a flurry of activities just on that period by Candidates, some of whom voters would be hearing from for the very first time. In short, we do not have a clear and complete picture of the strength of individuals contesting.
To move towards having a more reliable measure of Candidates strengths, a system evaluating candidates based on points allocated or accumulated coupled with casting of vote might be ideal. In our context we will identify some variables whereas the candidate’s performance is computed in totality to establish the winner of Bulela Ditswe.
Key amongst the variables could be the following: Community Leadership which would measure the candidate’s standing in as far as integrity is concerned and their commitment to the Constituency and as well their ability to care for and about others. Then there could be Community Service which will measure elements of volunteerism by the candidates and as well Fund-raising activities within the area he or she would wish to represent. Then lastly there could be Community Accountability, which would measure the individual Candidate’s drive for collective support to community members and create and affirm values and practices that encourage safety, support, and accountability.
These are by no means exhaustive, but I have picked on the elements that could measure the individual’s capability in as far as their ability to represent the Constituency is concerned. These variables should be measurable for a considerable time period prior to the vote casting, i.e for a consecutive 3 years leading to Bulela Ditswe elections. The distribution of points allocated to ‘Vote Casting’ could make up about 50 points out of 100. ‘Community Leadership’ as well as ‘Community Service’ could attract 20 points each, and lastly ‘Community Accountability’ could attract 10 points.
It is equally important that a credible institution is engaged in the compilation of the submissions by Candidates, i.e. the University of Botswana Democracy Research Project, because in many cases conflict ensues when Candidates believe that results are not reliable, not valid as they are doctored because of perceived ‘favoritism’.
The proposed Bulela Ditswe review will likely result in ‘would be’ Candidates ensuring that they play a meaningful part in Community Development Activities throughout the 5-year lifecycle of Elections. The net effect will be an empowered Community, with a likelihood of more Community Development projects, projects which will in turn create employment for the Community. Furthermore, there is a high possibility of the improved quality levels of representation in Parliament.
*Dr Dingalo is a member of the BDP
