Dear Biggie

Biggie, this week’s letter was never really meant for you. I was actually on paragraph 3 of a letter I was writing to Mephato Reggie Reatile.

Among the many things I raised in the letter to him, I expressed my disappointment in the way he seemed to have ganged up against you with the Khamas in a well-orchestrated plan to humiliate you in public.

I even scolded him for posturing a demeanour of a person seeking to replace you and act as a stooge for Khama. I had looked at the protocols of your arrival at that rally in Serowe. You were on your own – celebrated by those who were in the dark about what was about to unfold.

In that letter, I was asking Reggie how he could allow a situation where Khama was given a platform to disrespect and undermine a party president of the Botswana Patriotic Front in the presence of the ordinary membership. I was telling him in that letter that I agree with those who on Saturday night were saying Reggie o rekisitse Butale o mo epetse lemena because that was the analysis many made of the events of Saturday in Serowe. My letter to Reggie was to tell him to tread carefully, and to warn him against allowing himself to sink deeper into the petty and silly Khama politics of entitlement.

In fact, I was even reminding him of the words I once said to you in that letter of 2019 – that Khama will use people when they are useful to him, and that soon he would find a way of pushing them to the side-lines when he has achieved what he wanted.

I was warning him not to fall into the same trap. But alas, just when I was in my element warning him not to see himself as Khama’s blue-eyed boy as it will end in tears, came a missive delivering the news of your suspension from the party to which you are President. It was then that I paused and thought maybe I should be addressing the letter to you instead, because what I had anticipated happened sooner than I had expected. Tota wena your letter was to come next week Biggie, the intent of which was to then warn you against some form of coup I suspected would be coming your way in an effort to sideline you so that the Khamas do as they wish, the ultimate goal being to elevate Ian to the position of President. This week’s letter to Reggie, as I said, was simply to tell him I wouldn’t be surprised, given his recent behaviour, if he worked a plan to side-line you and call back those who resigned to go and form a new party away from you. I am writing this today on Monday, some minutes after I heard of your suspension and decided to change and write you this letter instead. I am sure by Wednesday when this letter is published, Reggie would have asked those who resigned to make a U-turn. You politicians are always predictable. As I say, tota wena I was planning to write you a letter next week where I was to then warn you of what now has already happened. These guys don’t waste time. I was planning to take you back to that 2019 letter to you Biggie. Need I remind you of the things I said in that letter Biggie? When I warned you not to burn bridges with Mosau because a day would come when you might want to return to the party you left because of losing primary elections?

And when the BPF suspended you the first time, I implored you to move on and leave the Khamas alone with their BPF. I warned you then Biggie that you would never be accepted by the Khamas again but somehow you falsely believed that the men had the decency to show you some appreciation for allowing yourself to be a pawn in their personal tirade against the sitting president.

They, together with their associates at the blue train, could not thank you for the sacrifices you had made that saw the BDP lose seats they otherwise would have easily won. They did not care and I begged you to wake up and smell the coffee. You will recall Biggie, that was my second warning to you after the first I had made in 2019 – that you were only being used to fight other people’s battles; once you have helped them cross the bridge, they would discard you like used toilet paper. Biggie, you did not listen.

You allowed yourself to return to that platform of your humiliation. I mean, who did not see that the whole saga about your alleged sexcapades with that BUAN student was a setup to bury you forever from the face of BPF politics?

I remember saying those who set you up had done worse than what the public was being fed then about you; just that their transgressions never had recorders involved for political blackmail. By now Biggie, you would be at peace, perhaps happy with your Godly flock where many would have long forgotten and forgiven you your alleged trespasses. But here we are again Biggie. I know many will not agree; and neither will you – but Biggie you need to take some time off the murky and dirty politics of the BPF. If by now you still do not see the scribblings on the wall, then I wonder what has to happen to open your eyes. Man, these guys may even harm you mentally. I can’t imagine anything more thankless than what I witnessed on Saturday. For a man to even declare publicly that you are a liar who goes around using his royal name to score cheap politics and sympathy – why would you even humiliate yourself that much by saying you will go and talk to him ke rraago?

I do applaud you for showing maturity amidst that humiliation but look at what your so-called rraago has done now. It actually embarrassed me to hear you say that after the disrespect you were shown. A whole party president dismissed as a scam the way Khama did? Even saying he expected you, a whole party president and VP, to run to him in South Africa to take instructions from him? Kante golo kwa, boss ke mang? You guys are an embarrassment to allow yourselves to be used in that fashion just for want of approval for votes? I remember asking how Guma would work with Khama the first time I heard he was also in cahoots with him at the BPF. I knew from the onset that it was never going to work. I had my doubts too with Lawrence, although his endurance has surprised me. I always admired the chap for not only his eloquence but I also viewed him as smart, independent-minded and too intelligent to be caved in by anybody. In that light too, I never saw him work smoothly with the conceit that prevails at the BPF. It is my opinion that in dumping Mosau, he would have done well to directly jump into the moving blue train or land just about anywhere else except where he eventually went. But then this thing called politics is complicated. Those on the side-lines don’t always seem to see things the way those inside see them. It is almost always difficult to fathom. Who would have thought that Reggie could be a part of all this scheming? Ga re tlhaloganye dilo ka bontsi indeed. Which is why I still do not understand why you would want to fight your way back into that chaos Biggie. As I hinted earlier, I had anticipated something like this against not only you but even against those who have been by your side throughout these tumultuous times, but I did not expect it would happen so fast. They did realise that forming a new party would be an own goal of some sort, and had to come up with a counter plan that did not include you and your sympathisers as part of the future of the party. They want you out Comrade, and it’s high time you left that cabal. You have run your race comrade Moruti, nna tota I once again plead with you to move on.

These chaps have used you – accept it, for you are not the first person to be used in life. We all know who founded this party and that you were just a front – you denied it in 2019 when I said this; but you see, the truth will always come out.

Go ne go iphitlhiwa ka leina la gago Moruti when it suited them, and you allowed it – but at what cost? Do they behave like they appreciate your ground work? Do they even pretend to love you? No, Biggie. Quit that cult of a movement. I know it is not an easy decision to make; I know you have this urge to fight back and prove your mettle; but at what cost? Is it even worth it Biggie? I promise you, a whole lot of peace awaits you out there. I cannot tell you where exactly, but as long as it is not at that movement, peace awaits you.