*Kelebonye outlines BCP’s agenda and long-term vision
Following the departure of the Botswana Congress Party’s mouthpiece, Dr Mpho Pheko, the party moved swiftly and replaced her with a veteran journalist and editor, Greg Kelebonye.
The 52-year-old Mogoditshane native started his newsroom journey at BOPA in 1999 and went up the ranks over the last 26 years to become Editor-in-Chief of Daily News and Kutlwano after graduating from the University of Botswana.
He also held other positions as a desk editor with Mmegi, Managing Editor of The Nation, which has since closed shop and also held senior positions as Communications Director for Botswana Harvard and the US Centres for Disease Control among others.
The Voice Reporter, DANIEL CHIDA brings you closer to the new face of BCP.
When did you first develop an interest in politics?
I have always had an interest in politics. I grew up in a staunch Botswana National Front family, especially my father. He instilled in us the children his socialist beliefs. I was so interested in politics that for many years I could recite lines from the Kenneth Koma- Peter Mmusi debate that preceded the Tshiamo bye-election. Most older folks will remember the Tshiamo ballot box scandal and I was only a child then.
Later, when I went to St Joseph’s College, I joined its debating team. I was also a member of the school drama group and the literary club. These provided opportunities to debate and engage on political issues. As president of the literary club I necessarily dealt with political issues. In fact when I realised that the school’s main publication, The Kgalian, was not flexible enough, I founded St Joe News, a student newspaper with the flexibility I needed. At University I was elected Vice President of the SRC. I had stood as an Independent even though I was a BNF member at the time.
You are known for your highly critical stance towards government on social media. Why that approach?
I believe in social justice. Whether you look at it from my perspective as a staunch Christian or as a member of the BCP, which is very strong on social justice, you will always come back to the same spot. So I demand social justice from our government. It is what the UDC government has always advocated alongside us, only for them to shamelessly somersault. I also believe in truth and honesty. So, when leaders fail to be truthful, fair and honest, I find it difficult to walk with them. I found the BCP to be way more organised, orderly and rooted in what I believe in; hence I chose it over UDC.
What are your roles and objectives?
My focus right now is to define and launch a clear, consistent, and memorable message to our people, namely that, in their desperation, in their frustration with the UDC government, in their suffering and pain caused by the UDC government, we remain the only real alternative; that we’re ready to free them from the greed, insensitivity and corruption of the UDC government; that come 2029, they should remember we, as BCP come with salvation.
Let’s talk about your organisation, especially the most recent high-profile departures, take us through it?
No. The cadres that the UDC government enticed to abandon politics were not necessarily creme-de-la-cream. The desperation of the UDC government is thus exposed: it’d rather sacrifice the trust of its cadres and foot soldiers, kill their dreams in the hope it’d silence the BCP. But the BCP has many buds. You pluck one out, another grows. The departures have hardly affected the general mood of the party. If anything, we are now receiving hundreds of new members -many of them from UDC and BDP. We are also receiving those who were previously non-aligned. Indeed our doors remain wide open for anyone who wants to join this future government of the Republic of Botswana. We remain the only alternative and salvation for our people.
Are you saying the departures did not have any effect on the party?
It would be presumptuous to claim that when a high profile person leaves your organisation, there is no impact. There always will be. However, it is how you react to it that matters. The BCP is like a well-trained fighter. We took that punch, shook it off and continued. At the end of the day the departures were just that: news headlines that fizzled into oblivion over the next few days. Why? The party will always be bigger than the individual. And we are a purpose-driven, united party. BCP is stronger, united and more determined than ever to free Batswana from UDC bondage and very poor governance. We remain the only alternative. Batswana should wake up to the reality that they have simply replaced a half dozen kleptocrats, with a dozen more. When individuals in a government use their power to expropriate national wealth and natural resources for personal gain, embezzling funds at the expense of citizens, and using some of these funds to destabilise the opposition; when a government institutionalized systemic corruption; abhors transparency; and blames public officers for its weak systems, weak rule of law, and tries to dampen the mood of the opposition by buying their cadres so they decamp, the nation has every reason to worry, and to vote out such a government, which we believe Batswana will do in 2029 by voting in BCP.
Do you see BCP taking power in 2029?
The UDC chanced upon the government. It had no real strategy in place. It remains disjointed, with thousands of disoriented members. The writing is on the wall: Batswana will not return UDC to the government in 2029. The off-the-charts looting that we’re witnessing is borne of the realisation that they won’t be coming back. Why do you think they’re still refusing to declare their assets? So, by wooing our cadres, the UDC is actually showing its desperation. That desperation is growing as its leaders realise the strategy is yielding the opposite. As BCP we remain strong, united and ready to lead Botswana. And we shall come 2029.
Why do you seem so certain about that?
First we know the UDC exploits the vulnerabilities of our cadres and uses public resources to woo them. They are not attracted to it. In fact of our two cadres whose departure has been discussed, none said they were joining the UDC. Our narrative is simple: We are Botswana’s only credible, democratic, socialist driven party that is looking forward to taking state power in 2029. In other words, we are here to Save Botswana from the UDC.
Let’s go back to the issue of defections and resignations, did they expose a fundamental weakness in the opposition’s toolbox—that you can offer scrutiny, but the ruling party can offer career and status?
Defections? These are not defections. These are men and women with pressing personal issues, which the UDC government is exploiting. Like I said none of the cadres said they were joining UDC. One of the UDC’s strategies is to try and divert attention from critical issues of national importance. One such strategy is to woo our cadres. But it’s clearly doing far greater harm to the UDC – look at how disunited the party is! On the reverse, it has become like the Bible’s Balak and Balaam story for the BCP, where every curse, every negative thing the UDC throws at BCP becomes a blessing. It is merely strengthening us as we prepare to take government in 2029.
What is your core message to reassure your members that the BCP, despite these losses, remains a stable, credible, and future-oriented government – in – waiting?
We remain robust in our role as the opposition. We are better organised, better researched, better equipped than the UDC or any political party in Botswana for that matter. Our voice is loudest. Our cadres are doing a wonderful job holding the government accountable and sensitising Batswana about what is right and wrong. And we’re seeing thousands and thousands of Batswana joining or agreeing with us. They believe in us.
Looking at the current political landscape, can you say Batswana still believe in the BCP as in-coming government?
There is no doubt that Batswana can’t wait to rid themselves of a very deceptive UDC. They are clearly gravitating towards the BCP as shown by the thousands that continue to join us.
Your last words?
The UDC, in typical Animal Farm style, has played our people. We are seeing a government that is increasingly leaning towards kleptocracy; a government that enjoys lying to its people; a government with upside down priorities and zero concern for the people – isn’t the health crisis one clear example? The UDC has failed to deliver on its promises and we are now hearing its leader Duma Boko saying their promises to the people were not a contract; that the people should never have taken them literally. The party has no respect for Batswana as shown by its leader’s statements that they voted it not because of its promises, but may have done so because they loved the leader’s appearance, or because they were emotional when they went to vote. Batswana must punish the UDC for disrespecting them and come 2029 elections vote BCP in. To all those who wish to join BCP, be they from UDC, BDP or are non-aligned, our embrace is waiting for you.
