They threaten to report the party to its friends abroad
A few days before the Letl-hakeng West parliamenta-ry bye-election disgruntled former Botswana National Front (BNF) members, Gabriel Kanjabanga, Lemogang Ntime, Rex Seharane, Pule Letebele, Terence Thebe and Gotamang Kelapile, are holding rallies in the constituency urging the constituents not to vote for the BNF candidate, Filbert Nagafela.
Interviewed by The Gazette, Ntime said they intend explaining to the voters that the BNF wants to cheat them; he said the BNF’s name is merely being used to get votes for the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
“The candidate does not represent the BNF but the UDC; if he wins the election under the BNF ticket he will defect to the UDC. People in Letlhakeng West think they will be voting for the BNF, when in fact they will be voting for the UDC,” he said.
Ntime said they do not recognise any Member of Parliament who claims to represent BNF in Parliament because they believe that there is no BNF in parliament. “We will not allow a situation where our party is being destroyed by the Duma Boko leadership,” he
said.
Last week Kanjabanga and his team addressed meetings in Sesung and Ditshegwane. This weekthe team is heading for Motokwe, Tshwaane, Dutlwe and Maboane; it is circulating a document titled, “Sa tshwene se itharile kae le se se tetseng thobaelo mo mangwenga maloka a BNF.” The documentis written in Setswana, but Ntime says it will be translated into English for the benefi t of the BNF’s fraternal organisations in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Cuba and everywhere else in the world where it will be sent.
“We believe the organisations that are friendly to the BNF must understand the current political dynamics; we are telling them that the current leadership is the enemy of the BNF, the revolution and progress,” he said.
But UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa, told The Gazette that Kanjabanga and his colleagues pose no threat to the BNF. “They are not part of us; they are on their own and we do not think their campaign in the area can have an effect.” He would not comment on the document being sent to the BNF’s fraternal organizations, saying he had never seen it.
And BNF Youth League secretary general Arafat Khan described Kanjabanga and company as irrelevant. “They are just trying to derail the BNF; they are showing their true colours. By going to Letlhakeng to de-campaign BNF and UDC proves beyond any reasonable doubt that these men are BDP agents, who are working for the BDP. The time has come to call on all our members to protect their party, if need be, to chase away these traitors. No amount of intimidation will stop us from emancipating the people of Letlhakeng West from the chains of poverty and other socio-economic ills,” he said.
However a political observer in Letlhakeng West said Kanjabanga and his colleague’s presence in the area should not be ignored; “as much as people will attend their meetings and listen to them, this can change the picture that the UDC is trying to paint.
“All the political parties are putting huge resources and energy into the area to win the election; this leaves the undecided voter not knowing which way to turn. None of the parties can afford negative infl uences that could scuttle their campaigns at this point,” he said.