Mmegi

Rival BPF NEC members restrained from fist fight

BY EDWARD BULE

The divisions that have characterised the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) for months now, reportedly culminated into a near-fight on Saturday at a meeting in Gaborone.

The party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) members had to be physically restrained from exchanging blows. The main protagonists were the publicity secretary, Lawrence Ookeditse and Prince Bosilong. It all started after Ookeditse allegedly accused Bosilong of sharing NEC meeting business with third parties. The BPF is divided into two warring factions with one led by the party’s founding Patron, former Head of State, Ian Khama and the other led by Samson Guma. Ookeditse is with Guma, while Bosilong is on Khama’s corner. There has been a concern that the former President always gets to know everything that is discussed at NEC meetings which he is unable attend because he is in exile. According to a NEC member, who spoke to The Midweek Sun on condition of anonymity, the two gentlemen suddenly charged at each other - threatening, accusing and counter-accusing each other in relation to the challenges bedeviling the BPF. “However, we managed to restrain them. They were obviously out of order. The problem is that, some among us share meeting outcomes with third parties such as Khama which is unprofessional,” the source said.

Formed in 2019 by a faction of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) led by Ian Khama, the BPF has itself been factionalised for some time. The factional wars started after the leadership hinted on an elective congress last year. It was not long before the leading faction decided to announce a postponement of the congress to this year before postponing it once again; this time to 2025. This chagrined the rival faction which apparently has minority representation in the party leadership. The BPF holds the distinction of being the first political party to experience a leadership crisis in less than four years of its formation. Efforts to contact Ookeditse and Bosilong were unsuccessful as their phones rang unanswered. For his part, Moiseraele Goya, a staunch Khama supporter declined to comment on the basis that he arrived late.

NEWS

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2023-03-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://enews.mmegi.bw/article/281560885036404

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