The past week has been abuzz with news of the return to the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) by MPs Patrick Masimolole of Mogoditshane and Philip Makgalemele of Shoshong after their ‘one night stand’ with the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD).
Discussions on social networks, like Facebook, and social places, like bars and weddings, centered on the sudden political U-turn made by Patrick and Philip.
The BDP were in a celebratory mood when news of the two MPs return broke.
The BMD, on the other hand, seemed frustrated at the sudden boomerang. Naturally, there should be nothing untoward in the celebration and dejection displayed by the two parties. They say breaking up is never easy and I concur.
Goodbye is the saddest word and having said it too many times before, I can attest to the sadness that comes with it. The question that begs for an answer in the Masimolole and Makgalemele episodes is, are they worth celebrating back into the BDP and are they worth crying for in the BMD.
The BDP celebrates their return for it brings some setback in the progression of opposition politics.
The BDP celebrates their return for it brings them closer to the realization of their mission to dethrone Hon Botsalo Ntuane as leader of opposition.
We are told President Khama cannot stand having to consult Hon Ntuane when some decisions in government need to be taken. Some are happy that Hon Ntuane may soon lose his privilege to be chauffer driven in a black government sedan.
What they do not understand is, Hon Ntuane drives a more expensive and comfortable car than the one provided for his office. Besides, I do not think Hon Ntuane feels safer in that government car than he does in his personal car.
Who would feel safe driving in a car that you can never be sure if it has been intercepted to record all the conversations that you engage in as you cruise?
There can be more to Masimolole and Makgalemele’s actions than many of us could have ever thought.
There are more questions than answers in the two gentlemen’s actions. Is it true that money was used to lure them back into the BDP? Was Mazabathi correct when he told the Sunday Standard a few months ago that a certain businessman was going to fund the BDP? Did they genuinely defect from the BDP or it was just another BDP strategy to wound the BMD?
Were the two MPs told not to worry about life after 2014? Have they been assured of some posts which led to them orchestrate their own political obituaries so early?
Some questions will never be answered but that will not stop people from talking.
In fact, the more these questions remain unanswered the more people will continue to have their own suspicions and make their own conclusions .That said, even as I find it shameful for Patrick and Philip to have soiled their integrity in the manner they did, I will die defending their right to do what they did.
We live in a democracy and people have the right to choose who they want to associate with and when they want to associate with them. Just as no one can ever choose who Philip and Patrick can marry, no one can choose which political party they should belong to.
It is their personal choice which no one should frown upon as the same liberty extends to all of us. We get into relationships for different reasons just as we join political parties for varying reasons.
Absurd as it may sound, some have joined the BNF because they use Mascom network and both organizations have yellow as their official colour. Some have joined BMD because they use the Orange cellular network while some joined the BCP for its green colours which are synonymous with the Be-mobile network.
Of course, some have joined the BDP. Red for danger.
And, yes, many have joined political parties because of ideologies and policies of those political parties. When someone joins a political party for whatever reason and no matter how stupid the reason, we need to respect their choice.
Many people have married partners whom their parents do not accept but at the end of the day, the final decision and choice lie with the partners and not the parents or other family members.
What disturbs me though in the Makgalemele return is the reasons he provides.
Makgalemele tells us he went back to the BDP because his decision to join the BMD had hurt his family, friends and his constituents. The danger about his action is that he tends to make decisions not out of conviction but through pressure from other people.
He comes across as someone who doesn’t have a stand. He says his 8-year-old daughter told him of how she misses their time in the BDP. The daughter is reported as having broken down in a BDP hymn to finally win over his dad. Easy and so scary, hey!
Hon Makgalemele recently got married after going through divorce with his first wife. I can only hope and pray that the divorce and the remarriage were done out of Makgalemele’s own will and conviction and that it was his personal choice without family pressure, which he seems easy to succumb to.
Imagine this, and God forbid, the recently married Hon Makgalemele wakes up to tell his latest wife how he has never been at peace with himself ever since he got into their recent marriage and how he realizes his decision to divorce and get into another marriage had hurt his family.
Imagine if his Pop Idols destined daughter sings a song that mommy and daddy used to listen to and the worst would be if the daughter tells Makgalemele how she misses all that.
How will Hon Makgalemele handle such pressure from his daughter and family if they ask him to go back to his previous marriage just like they told him to go back to his previous party?
You see, the problem with decisions that are made out of pressure is, more often the decision taker betrays his soul and impresses people who may not be directly affected by the repercussions that may come with such a decision.
I do not think Patrick and Philip thought deep into their political life beyond 2014 unless, like I said, their actions were a BDP strategy and they have been assured of prosperity even beyond their highly likely political demise in the next general elections.
In fact I do not see their own party, the BDP, fielding them as parliamentary candidates in the next general elections. Their soiled integrity and unpredictability will affect their political sustenance beyond 2014 and the BDP won’t take the risk of having them as candidates.
The two MPs may be able to recover from the embarrassment that came with their actions but surely they will never reclaim the trust of the electorates.
As for the BMD, I just don’t understand why they should be saddened by the departure of Masimolole and Makgalemele. To me, it is just like sulking over a girl you meet briefly at a club and have a one night stand with.
Why should you cry that you flirted with someone and the next day they dump you?
One night standers hardly ever get to know what the other person does for a living. They part before they could even exchange surnames or even contact numbers.
So really when the person you had a one night stand with decides to call it quits all you need to do is move on and take it like you have never known them because truth be told, you have never known them.
Apart from the drinks that you may have bought them on that night you have nothing more to lose.
So Makgalemele and Masimolole, just like one night standers, came to the BMD and left before any bond was made.
They brought the excitement into the BMD and the BMD opened up, hopefully a little, to them and, like orgasms synonymous with one night stands, it was all short-lived.
I have written here before trying to impress upon the BMD to focus their recruitment energies on the electorates and not MPs.
Instead of trying so hard to lure MPs into their fold, the BMD should get more ordinary people on their side for, amongst all these ordinary people, they will never run out of parliamentary and council representatives. The MPs will join when they join but should not be the priority.
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