20 Jul 2017

In light of uncertainty surrounding the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) leadership following the President’s Day long weekend, the party faction led by Mr Ndaba Gaolathe has claimed to have legitimate control of the party.

Addressing the media in Gaborone on Wednesday, Francistown South Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Wynter Mmolotsi said they had followed due constitutional process in convening a parallel congress at Bobonong Junior Secondary School.

“Article 13 of the BMD constitution clearly stipulates who makes up a congress; party MPs, local councillors, regional and branch chairpersons and secretaries, all members of the Women’s League and Youth League, national committees, and 10 delegates from each branch. The vast majority of these delegates were prevented from being part of the congress chaired by (former Lobatse MP) Nehemiah Modubule at Matshekge Secondary School,” Mr Mmolotsi said.

He said upon being denied entry into Matshekge, they resolved to convene their congress at Bobonong Junior Secondary School, the venue having already been booked to accommodate their members during the congress.

Mr Mmolotsi said the delegates used their constitutional power to move the congress venue from Matshekge to Bobonong (school), where they invoked further constitutional clauses to elect Dr Margaret Nasha to chair the congress and overturn the suspension of Mr Gaolathe and others.

The Bobonong school congress then went further to elect a new BMD leadership with Mr Gaolathe and Mr Mmolotsi retaining the president and vice president positions they won at Ghanzi in 2015, while the Matshekge congress on the other hand had elected Mr Sydney Pilane as party president. But Mr Mmolotsi said they do not recognise the group led by Pilane as being legitimate.

“The Matshekge gathering was not a legal congress because they did not form the requisite quorum of more than 50 per cent of the delegates present. But at Bobonong Junior Secondary School, we had six BMD MPs, 31 of the 35 party councillors, the vast majority of the regional and branch chairpersons and secretaries as well as the entire Women and Youth League committees,” Mr Mmolotsi said.

Gaborone Central MP, Mr Phenyo Butale, who was elected secretary general by the Ndaba Gaolathe group said they had a copy of the voter’s roll used at Matshekge to usher in Mr Pilane as BMD leader.

“In both the Mahalapye East and West constituencies, only one person from the 10 that had been elected to be delegates appears on the voter’s roll.

For an area like Mogoditshane, where the area MP, councillors and delegates were all barred from entering the Matshekge hall, the voter’s roll has names of delegates party activists from that constituency are not familiar with,” Mr Butale said.

Although there are now two BMD factions that claim to be the legitimate leaders of the party, Mr Mmolotsi could not disclose what legal steps they would take to clarify, which of the two is duly legitimate. BOPA