Officials and ordinary members of the Umbrella for Democratic Change affiliates - Botswana Peoples’ Party and Botswana National Front – are caught in the horns of an ideological dilemma.

The dilemma is in respect of how to deal with members from Botswana Democratic Party’s splinter groups - Botswana Movement for Democracy, which came into being in 2012 and Botswana Patriotic Front of 2019.

The BMD has since been expelled from the Umbrella for Democratic Change ( UDC), while the BPF remains an affiliate of the collective. The other affiliates - BPP and BNF - are arguably the two foremost ideological parties in the country after the Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin ( MELS) which has however since joined the Botswana Congress Party ( BCP).

The source of the not- soobvious conflict emanates from the ideological outlook of the BPP and BNF on the one hand and that of the two BDP splinter parties - BMD and the BPF - on the other.

According to sources in the BNF and BPP, the two BDP splits had nothing to do with the party policies or ideology but instead everything with whoever was the BDP leader when the BDP split.

When the BMD came into being the BDP leader and President of the country was Ian Khama. Before leaving, the splinters accused him of dictatorship and intolerance.

When another split hit the ruling party in 2019 resulting in the birth of the Botswana Patriotic Front ( BPF) after a fallout between the former president and his successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, who was party leader at the time.

Once again you had a splinter party that seemed to agree with all the BDP policies, while disagreeing with the party President.

When the BPP and BNF members engage and interrogate BDP policies which they consider neo- colonial, members of the two splinter parties are not able to examine the ideological posture of their parent party but spend the bulk of their speaking slot at the rallies praising the former ruling party leaders, while maligning the individual who led the BDP at the time of their departure from the party. This has led to an ideological discord in the coalition.

“Just like the BMD before it, the BPF, is unable to critically interrogate the BDP policies including its founding ones. According to the BMD, the BDP, formed in 1962, lost touch with reality in 1998 when the now former President Ian Khama became the party leader and Head of State.

“In similar fashion, when addressing UDC rallies, BPF speakers spend their time dismissing President Mokgweetsi Masisi suggesting that he and his administration are the reason the BDP is not delivering.

“The failure by the BMD activists then and the BPF cadres now to address issues and not individuals have left their comrades in the BPP and BNF wondering whether the splinter parties are here to stay,” a concerned UDC official said.

Needless to say, the BPP and BNF which have spent more than 50 years of their existence engaging and criticising BDP policies which they viewed as neocolonial hence anti- citizen empowerment, could not help but feel uneasy at best.

Many in the UDC interpret the situation where splinter parties can idolise former BDP leaders at the expense of the founding leaders of the opposition parties as a sign of desperation and opportunism on the part of the opposition parties.

“We need their numbers, however, their ideological orientation often leaves us embarrassed and wondering what would happen if a reconciliation were to happen between the BDP and its splinter parties whose members clearly do not share our ideological position. They clearly have nothing in common with us,” said the official.

He continued, “This is a very disturbing ideological dilemma for the leftist parties such as the BPP and BNF. Imagine, you are addressing a rally and a speaker from the BMD segment of the UDC sings the praises of Seretse Khama, Quett Masire and Mogae?

“The next speaker who happens to be from the BPF approves all the former BDP leaders except Masisi whose leadership style led to the split that brought the party into being. The speakers say nothing about the UDC policies and the founding leaders of the opposition parties. They discuss individuals and not policies. They clearly despise UDC leaders and to be honest, we despise them and their leaders too,” mourned a UDC official preferring anonymity.

According to Themba Joina, although the fall of the Soviet Union has softened political ideologies leaving MELS as the only truly ideological party in Botswana, it is still important to induct new members on what you believe in.

Instead of contradicting one another, it might be necessary to agree on what to say and not what to say at the rallies. Joina said that much as the ruling and opposition parties may no longer stand ideologically far apart away from each other, you have individuals who are very ideological in the BNF and BPP.

“With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the democratisation of Eastern Europe, socialism became a taboo in most countries of the world. Political realignment worldwide led to parties opting for centrist positions to attract voters.

“Neither capitalism nor socialism were indispensable in the first place. A middle ground position became attractive to political parties and voters. There are lots of contradictions in political parties in Botswana. Ideologies are foreign to Botswana politics and pursuing them is more rhetoric than reality,” observed Adam Mfundisi of the University of Botswana.

His view is that ideological arguments no longer appeal to voters.

“Even the BDP, which is a neo- colonial party claiming to be pro- capitalist, has abandoned that rhetoric. The BDP over the years has pursued interventionist policies consistent with socialist ideals. Its distributive policies are diametrically opposed to the capitalist policies which they claim to adhere to.

“Theoretically, the BDP claims to be a capitalist oriented political party but in reality, it pursues centrist policies. The BPP and BNF had in their origins, been Pan- Africanist and socialist respectively,” but they have not been preaching their founding ideals either.