BG correspondent ERNEST MOLOI warns that peace won’t return to BDP, unless the leadership wises up

Gradually signs of the crumbling of the Botswana Democratic Party monolith grow visible. Newspapers are awash with weekly reports of defections from the ruling party to its splinter - Botswana Movement for Democracy.
So far, five members of parliament have joined the new party, with a dozen more councillors in the country following suit. Could this be the moment of truth for BDP, which has ruled the country uninterrupted since independence in 1966?
Alternatively, could the reports just be mere propaganda, as one Councillor in Tsamaya in the Tati East constituency would have President Ian Khama believe? Khama had jetted to this constituency to once more assure the electorate that the BDP is stable. But, quite unfortunately, he had steered from this mission and launched a vindictive and scathing attack on the constituency MP, Samsom Guma.
In explaining circumstances that led to Guma’s resignation from the BDP, Khama volunteered some information that under normal circumstances would be regarded ‘state secret.’ So, ultimately in his quest to discredit the former BDP member of parliament the president only succeeded in exonerating his detractors and sworn critics who have always suspected that the Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) was his personal security apparatus designed to spy on his political enemies.
Otherwise, how else could anyone explain the pressure on the president to share with the Tati East electorate some pieces of intelligence that his security had passed to him? According to news reports, Khama told the rally that the intelligence gathered on Moyo had ‘frightened’ him to the extent that he relieved the MP of his cabinet post. Is it probable therefore that even without the benefit of the due process of law, a man can be convicted and declared guilty? Khama’s overtures pointed to this grim reality.
Not only this. Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, the no-nonsense Phandu Skelemani, would not be outdone at the rally. Sadly, his grovelling bordered on stoking tribal hatred, as he implied that the troublemakers in BMD were linked to Zimbabwe. And wonder of wonders, while this continued, BMD’s interim Treasurer was at that time on a private trip to Harare with BDP’s Chairman, Daniel Kwelagobe!
While most of the ordinary folk may not have access to newspapers, especially the private press, which roundly question the president’s style of leadership, it is becoming increasingly likely that the groundswell of pessimism induced by the weekly defections by councillors and MPs from the BDP could soon sway public perception against the president and his party.
This is more likely given the aggressive nature of the response of BDP activists, cabinet ministers and MPs response to the state of the party and government. Nowhere evident was this aggression apparent than at the opening of the current sitting of Parliament when Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Margaret Nasha refused point blank to recognise the existence of a new party in the House. 
Not the repeated prodding by Gaborone West -South MP Botsalo Ntuane could convince the ‘iron lady.’ This begs the question what would the Speaker do in the event the new party attracts the required number of MPs from the BDP to form a government?
BDP still has options to avoid a total catastrophe. First, in the Westminster parliamentary system followed here, the party must revisit its library shelves and blow the dust from some of the motions it previously considered controversial. The second thing is for the MPs to caucus and choose brilliant minds to present these motions for adoption this year.
The controversial motions include barring floor crossing by any elected representative and the declaration of assets and liabilities by all elected representatives as well as public officers, as originally presented by former MPs Gladys Kokorwe and Joyce Phumaphi. This will briefly take the sting from the opposition and doubtlessly breathe the much-needed respite into the trouble-ridden party.
Anything else is academic and will not work to win the party any votes. The party has to especially contend with the fact that it is losing the cream of its future – the youth. And they are not just ordinary youth, but are the most brilliant, that were also being groomed for ultimate leadership of the party. Even as the party’s rank and file may take comfort in maligning the defectors, the reality on the ground is that the party is being hit where it hurts the most.
Denial is the worst curse anyone could wish on themselves. As the party weighs its options it may want to discuss the contentious issues of reviewing both the party and country’s constitutions. Throw the issue to delegates and allow a healthy exercise of internal debate to take its natural cause. After this, the president must approach the other political parties with the view to resuscitate the All Party Conference.  Once in place, all the other parties will have a platform to discuss with BDP issues of national political interest including the review of the country’s constitution. These measures present the ruling party its surest way out of the quagmire it has immersed itself.
Further, there is for the first time in the country’s political history, real prospects of opposition unity of sorts. What form the unity could assume remains incidental now, but the threat is real. The party needs only look to Lobatse, where for the first time an independent candidate managed to win a parliamentary seat and to Francistown, where a councillor that had resigned from the ruling party also won a council seat as an independent.
These are real signs of a real political threat to the seat of power that the BDP has enjoyed all its life. It must wake up from its deep slumber and tackle these challenges head on, not by ultimatums and directives, but through political consensus hatched at various structures of the organisation. Incumbency may well work in the BDP’s favour, but this should not be its trump card, as it could give rise to growing accusations of abuse of state resources. The BDP has already been accused of using the state-owned media like Botswana Television, Daily News and the two radio stations to advance its political party agenda.
Now is the time to go back to the tried and tested forms of politicking. The stage is set for the resurgence of political activity in freedom squares, motorcades and aggressive house-to-house campaigns. Even then, the politicians must reckon with the advent of the information superhighway and its gadgets. Already some of our ICT-savvy politicians are using Facebook, Internet and other ICT gadgets to spread their message to the electorate.
On the flip side, even as they ride on the crest of the wave, the opposition parties must remain calm and collected. They must strive at all costs to desist from using foul language when talking of the other side. Khama seems to be the only common factor among the opposition parties. He is bashed at every twist and turn, in every rally and political meeting. Soon, however, this may become mere rhetoric for the electorate who also wear their own prisms, which may not necessarily be influenced by politicians. The test is to remain true to their code of conduct.
There is also the cultural aspect, which Khama has tremendously exploited better than any of his predecessors. While academics and armchair critics in lofty air-conditioned rooms may pour all the scorn in Khama’s bonfire kgotla meetings with the rural elders, it is no doubt a real political genius. Botswana’s politics can at no point in time be separated from its cultural existence. This is the lesson the opposition ought to internalise if it wants to wrest power from BDP.
As the parties go to their respective congresses, where it is widely expected that the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) would usher the youthful Dumelang Saleshando to the presidency and Botswana National Front (BNF) Duma Boko, BDP is waiting in frantic apprehension.