Divisions within and between the opposition political parties are widening.
And opposition activists are openly providing theoretical foundations in their justifications of such divisions.
A recent council ward by-election at Bophirima in the Gaborone Bonnington South will always be remembered by many because of what happened there.
The ruling Botswana Democratic Party because they lost it after winning it in 2019.
The Botswana Congress Party will remember Bophirima because they contested it despite their membership of the Umbrella for Democratic Change.
And Bophirima will forever be etched on the UDC thought because they won it when everybody had ruled them out.
But it is the Alliance for Progressives that will for a foreseeable future be grappling with a ghost from the Bophirima by-election. In fact it is how the AP exorcises this ghost that will be more fascinating to watch.
The AP adopted a bizarre and somewhat shocking position in the by-election.
Early on in the contest the AP joined the fray by firmly and openly supporting a BCP candidate.
This would have been an innocent decision by AP had there been no unresolved dispute involving the UDC.
By aligning with BCP, the AP are not just posturing.
They are joining a coalition of the wounded.
Like the BCP, they too feel deeply aggrieved against Duma Boko, the president of the UDC.
AP and BCP are not the only ones. The BMD too, if its still alive also has its own grievances against Boko.
AP is a small outfit. It also has a character and a lot of public goodwill that far outstrips its numerical base.
But elections are however won on numbers.
After Bophirima it is very unlikely that AP will be able to regain or restore its identity, especially the character where it was a voice of reason.
Since its inception AP had assumed the character of its founding president, Ndaba Gaolathe.
It chose sides in a divisive and highly polarized election and went headlong into it.
The AP had an opportunity to build bridges and preach for peace – its traditional pose.
It opted to go a totally different way.
Perhaps in their judgement this was temporary.
Political ramifications of Bophirima, or should we say of AP decision will be felt for a long time to come.
As a result of Bophirima by-election the AP lost its innocence.
But more worryingly it might also be a signal of the growing influence inside the AP of hardline and sectarian voices like that of party vice president Wynter Mmolotsi and also Sedirwa Kgoroba – both of who are sworn enemies of UDC president Duma Boko.
Either way, the AP is no longer an embodiment or epitome of the voice of reason much less a symbol of moderate politics.
Outside of the UDC efforts are ongoing to create the second centre of opposition politics – away from the UDC. And the AP wants to be a founding member, possibly an intellectual godfather of such a creation, if it happens.
The feeling among the proponents for such a force is that there is need for a diversity of thought.
This is in direct contrast to an earlier school of thought that only a united opposition could unseat the Botswana Democratic Party.
It is still a developing thought, and is as yet unclear whether unseating the BDP is still a shared dream among opposition thinkers or whether others have since adjusted their ambitions to living with a BDP that is forever in power.
The intrigue continues.
This is no longer an issue of BCP vs BNF. It is a fight for relevance.
The AP is flapping around for a new identity.
Its old one of serenity and reason has failed to get traction and could not deliver votes – certainly not as quickly as the party had hoped.
As a result its posture of strategic patience has been thrown out through the window.
The AP is now knee-deep in the mud with everybody else.
It might be a tactical blunder, because restoring its image of clean politics will not be happening in the near future.
Also surprising is the fact that the party has chosen to discard the very identity it had carved and so early on in its existence.
That was so much unlike them.
Was it a knee-jerk reaction?
Only time will tell. But the decision has come at a high price.
By taking sides in the ongoing internal dispute, the AP has not only reduced their leverage, they have turned themselves into political hostages, now at the messy of Botswana Congress Party.
AP will henceforth be looked at with suspicion. They cannot be expected to become peace brokers, which is what they have always been.
Worse, the AP did not just join the BCP, they became literally the leaders of the campaign at Bophirima, adopting a politically acerbic rhetoric that not long ago would have been considered foreign inside the AP.
A decision by AP has especially poisoned relationships within the larger opposition block.
Of course it is unlikely Kgoroba will care a hoot about all that that. BCP went on to lose the by-election. That will hurt him much, but not so much.
The fact that a by-election offered the AP an opportunity, first to support the BCP and secondly to campaign against the UDC will mean a lifetime achievement to Kgoroba.
There is no love lost between him and the UDC, especially that part of it that is sympathetic to Boko.
For the time being, the intrigue goes on. So too does the long march of the BDP rule.
