Furious five declare pull out from UDC null and void, threaten party leadership with legal suit
The Botswana Patriotic Front has been ordered to submit the names of council and Parliamentary candidates to the Umbrella for Democratic Change with immediate effect or face legal action.
A letter from Segadimo Attorneys addressed to the Party Secretary General Lawrence Ookeditse, dated July, 31st, 2024, says the party has left the candidates confused on whether they belong to the UDC coalition or not.
The complainants stated that the party met with UDC National Executive Committe in August 2022, and resolved to be part of the UDC at its congress in April 2023 and subsequent others, and there was never a resolution to pull out of the UDC.
Boatametse Nthobogang, Mmapula Tsholofeoo Amos, Thabiso Tendani and Rabaja Lekgaba say that false and misleading media reports that the party President, Mephato Reatile has withdrawn from the UDC are unfortunate since no formal communication on the matter has been made to the general membership of the BPF.
“Some of the members of the National Executive Committee, Constituency Chairpersons and Constituency Secretaries have consistently maintained that they know nothing about and/or did not participate in the meeting mentioned in the media reports alluded to above,” reads the letter.
The complainants further say that they consider it inconceivable that the president of the party would have taken a deliberate decision to disrespect a resolution of the NEC for the following reasons; the erstwhile president of the party Biggie Butale was expelled for breaching, disregarding and disrespecting the resolution of Party’s NEC which mandated the party to join the UDC for purposes of contesting the 2024 general elections.
They also say that the purported decision to pull out of UDC is null and void to the extent that it constitutes an attempt to vary a resolution of the NEC, which conduct Reatile has previously declared a cardinal sin and analogous to tearing apart the very roots of the party when it was done by his predecessor Butale.
The five individuals also say that after successful BPF primaries held on the 27th and 28th July 2024, the names of the candidates are yet to be communicated to the structures of the party, causing unnecessary anxiety to them and other stakeholders.
They say the members are asking questions on whether the candidates should start producing their campaign merchandise and flyers, or whether they should produce the merchandize under BPF colours or UDC colours.
They also do not know if the BPF will communicate the list to Ministry of Local Government and Parliamentary candidates to the UDC promptly to enable them to commence their campaigns under the UDC.
Furthermore, the candidates do not know whether they should submit their names to the UDC individually and they want the BPF to provide answers immediately or face legal action.
