The new Botswana Congress Party (BCP) president, Dumelang Saleshando becomes the first local politician to inherit party presidency directly from his father.

BG: Now that you are the leader of the BCP, how does it feel?
Saleshando: I am humbled by the unanimous expression of confidence by the BCP members on my ability to add value to the party. I have been a member of the party and have had the privilege to serve the party in a number of structures such as in the Constituency Committee, Youth League and the Central Committee. The party has also accorded me the opportunity to be its representative for Gaborone Central on two occasions. I now have the opportunity to serve in a new position and feel greatly indebted to the organisation for the many opportunities that have been availed to me to serve the nation.
BG: As the first local to inherit party presidency directly from your father, don’t you think this attracts unnecessary attacks from other parties?
Saleshando: I do not think that my ascendancy to the BCP top position can in any way be equated to inheritance. Inheritance suggests easy access, an act where one becomes a beneficiary of benefits that they have not worked for. I have been involved with the BCP from the day of its formation. I have represented the party in many engagements. My colleagues in the party entrusted me with different responsibilities, not on the basis of my surname, but rather on the basis of the value of the contribution I offered. If I was inclined to cash in on the political profile of my father, I would have hibernated in Selibe-Phikwe and waited to cash in when he retired. But that was never my plan, as my commitments to the values of the BCP are not based on my family tree. I, however, do concede that having assumed the presidency of the party immediately after Gilson Saleshando, this presents convenient armoury for those fascinated by mischief. In politics, opponents look for all possible lines of attack, whether such attacks are based on facts or not, is immaterial at times.
BG: There is a view that you rose to the presidency of the party with the help of your father, your immediate predecessor. Do you feel you have the necessary credentials to grow the BCP brand?
Saleshando: Gilson Saleshando has already made it public that he was not in support of my decision to contest. I took his concerns onboard when I was consulting other party members on whether I should contest. At the end, I had to make the decision, which was based on the interests of the party. The BCP has invested heavily in my development. When the majority in the party is of the view that the party must now derive benefits for the investment, I cannot compromise the interests of the party just to avoid being seen as a favoured Saleshando. The results of the congress elections would have been the same even if I carried a different name.
BG: What are your priority areas as the BCP president?
Saleshando: My priority areas for the BCP are as follows:
• To help the BCP to develop alternative laws and policies to those of the BDP. Our values as a social democratic movement are clear. We want a system of governance that promotes participation, respects human rights, accords equal opportunities for all and promotes social justice. We have covered a lot of ground in popularizing political issues such as protection and respect for civil liberties. The challenge is now to present deliverable alternative laws and policies for the electorate to gauge our preparedness to govern.
• Botswana faces major economic difficulties. We have high unemployment levels, high poverty levels and unreasonable inequality levels. The BCP has made a number of pronouncements on issues relating to economic policy, but I now want to take this a step further and help the party to put together a robust and clear alternative economic development programme for Botswana. The programme will be based on the values we stand for and address the concerns of the workers, youth, elderly, the domestic entrepreneurs and all those who are willing and able to add value to the economy of the country.
• The BCP has been in existence for 12 years now. The party must engage in a process for revaluating itself. The constitution we adopted in 1998 and the structures that we set in place were geared at addressing the challenges as we saw them at the time. This is a new era and we need to reexamine ourselves bearing in mind that the voters’ expectations also change with time.
• Finally, I will also give great attention to the possible cooperation with other opposition parties. Though we attained limited success over the issue in the past, there is need to try once more. Our merger with BAM has provided us with relevant experience over this issue.
BG: Some say the BCP has lost steam since the arrival of the BMD on the political scene, who are stealing the limelight?
Saleshando: BCP is not loosing steam. As an insider I can say this with confidence. About the BMD what has happened is that something, which has never happened in the history of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party. The BDP has split - a party that has been in power for over 40 years is now in problems - this should be the talk of the town. The source of their positive publicity is President Ian Khama.
BG: How is that?
Saleshando: Well, it seems every time he tries to rebut the BMD he gives them more positive publicity. But for us the key issue, which should concern us, is if we are able to attract new members or not. We have accepted new members such as Dr. Letsie (former BNF), and the Secretary General’s report shows that we continue to attract new members.
But my general attitude towards the BMD is to engage in competition with those in opposition is self-defeating. We learnt that from the BNF because we spent a lot of time attacking them but we benefited nothing from that. I don’t have any negative thoughts on BMD; I will rather focus on the positive. Our job with BMD will be much easier as partners and not as opponents. I will not waste my time on trying to hatch a plan to out-compete an opposition party.
BG: The youth leagues of the different parties have already set the tone for cooperation between the parties. Are we likely to see the new leadership take up the challenge?
Saleshando: Our congress adopted a resolution on cooperation. We have already approached other opposition parties on the Tonota North by-election. Once that is finalised we will start long-term cooperation talks.
BG: Which opposition parties did your party talk to with regard to the Tonota North by-election?
Saleshando: We have talked to the BNF, BMD and the BPP. At least the BNF and BMD said they will revert and we are expecting to hear from them soon.
BG: BCP in the past complained that BNF wanted to swallow them, but went on to swallow BAM. What is your take on this?
Saleshando: Swallowing in politics is what in business we call a hostile takeover. In that situation one entity becomes non-existent, while the other one remains the same.
But in our case the BCP has to deregister its symbol and it now showcases the BAM symbol. The colours have also changed. This is a new organization with new features that are different from the former BAM and BCP. So it is not swallowing.
BG: Your ascendance to the highest office in the party may cost it as you performed best as the spokesperson of the organisation. What is your take on this?
Saleshando: People must understand that the chief spokesperson of a party is its leader. I knew that as a publicity secretary I was only supplementing my leaders. I worked under Dingake (Michael), Koosaletse (Otlaadisa) and Saleshando (Gilson) and my role then was to supplement their efforts in popularizing the party.
If people think I did well as a
spokesperson I think it’s an added advantage to my new role. So I don’t plan to sit back and ask the Publicity Secretary to do all the work.
BG: What are the challenges facing opposition parties in Botswana?
Saleshando: Lack of political party funding is the biggest problem. Opposition parties have no resources; you use your family money for party work. Because we don’t have money it is difficult for us to travel around the country. A hostile state media that is refusing to give opposition parties airtime is another major challenge.
BG: Do you have any plans in place to tackle some of these problems?
Saleshando: I want the party to pay more attention to sourcing funds from within and outside the country. The party also needs to have a fulltime Secretary General because we are currently having inefficiencies in our administrative systems and this can only be addressed by having the right quality personnel.
The SG is the key administrator of the party and I think we need him on a full time bases.