For a party that only a short while ago was talking possibility of taking state power in 2019, it has been a real shock how the pendulum has over the last few months been wildly swinging against the Umbrella for Democratic Change.
So bad has the situation been, especially for the last two weeks such that it has now become almost impossible under the circumstances to see how the Umbrella for Democratic Change will come back from the dead.
UDC demise was in a way pre-ordained.
The danger, we must hasten to point out, is not that UDC will not take state power, but rather that Batswana will lose faith in politics, especially opposition politics.
From its inception, the UDC was created as a loose motley crew of political parties and interests.
Rather than strict adherence to iron-clad laws, the alliance was based on trust and good faith.
That is why many years since its formation, the party still has never held an internal election.
It was all predicated on love and respect for one another.
Internal elections were never a priority. Growing that brand was.
Positions were doled out, not on a whim, but rather out of a burning desire to avoid wrecking the ship.
It was a give and take arrangement. There was no backbiting, no bickering and the love and respect that one had for the other ÔÇô at party and at leadership levels were as since as they were unmistakable.
The party grew and became famed for its vive and excitement its leaders provoked among the members.
For a time it was an expediency that worked when it lasted, at least until after the 2014 General Election that the party approached with aplomb, literally punching above its weight ÔÇô and emerging from it with the gains that no pundit could have foreseen.
And then everything changed.
As election euphoria subsided it became clear that the work ethic of some of its leaders including in parliament were not what the public had expected.
More disturbing was a clear mismatch between the rhetoric of some of its leaders with what lifestyles they were living.
The leaders behaved as though they were already in power. The more subtle among them behaved as though it was certain power would be won in 2019.
Both of these false existences turned off the more discerning among the voters and despondency began to set in.
And as the party sought to grow its base by bringing in more members, conflict became somewhat inevitable.
It got worse as time went on.
Since February this year public attention and media scrutiny have been trained on the party and its leadership in a way that has never happened before.
This is not what they have grown used to. And the level of discomfort among some of them shows.
UDC was created never to withstand conflict.
Yet some new arrivals into it brought just that.
The party has been totally unprepared for it hence the impending collapse.
The first response was to deny the existence of any troubles.
When that did not pass, attention turned to blaming some in the media for manufacturing and fermenting such troubles.
That too has not had legs to stand on.
The watershed moment was a UDC verdict on a leadership dispute paralyzing one of the constituent members, the Botswana Movement for Democracy.
That verdict, together with how it was reached fully and comprehensively exposed the shaky ground on which UDC was founded. The verdict could easily have been drafted with input from one of the belligerents.
For the UDC, the formation of a new party should come as a relief.
It removes away internal conflict ÔÇô at least in the short term.
This means that the now undisputed leader of the BMD should be allowed his seat inside the UDC.
That leader is Sidney Pilane.
And if everything is done properly, Pilane should with no conditions be made first Vice president of the UDC.
Trying to sidestep such a decision would plunge the UDC into further quagmire.
The UDC, to be fair even to its founders was created as a shell ÔÇô a house of cards so to speak. And that is not about change.
What should happen is that no effort should be spared in keeping it away from all conflict.
Pilane should demand his seat inside the UDC ÔÇô nothing more, nothing less.
But this week on radio he hinted at turning UDC into a melting pot of political parties by dissolving other parties.
That for now, especially under the circumstances can only be wishful thinking.
He should be content with what he has, which is BMD even though its existence is for now a matter of public doubt and also his position as UDC first Vice President.
We wish Batswana a safe and happy Independence celebrations.
