- Says Dow should have informed the party caucus
- Asserts Dow and President are on good terms
GAZETTE REPORTER
Specially Elected Member of Parliament Dr Unity Dow did not inform the party caucus about her intentions to call a press briefing, the Chief Whip of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Liakat Kablay, has said.
This comes after Dow addressed a press conference in Gaborone on Tuesday this week (yesterday) at which she accused the BDP of working in cahoots with a Facebook pseudo account called France Museveni.
Museveni has made a series of scathing corruption allegations against Dow and other powerful personages on the account.
During her media briefing yesterday, Dow said President Mokgweetsi Masisi has failed to distance himself from Museveni’s social media posts in which it has been claimed that she is part of a scheme to oust him.
Domkrag chief whip Kablay told The Botswana Gazette that Dow – has failed to air her problems at the party’s weekly caucus meetings. She was absent from the caucus yesterday.
“There are issues that are personal and there are issues that can be linked to the party,” Kablay said. “If this is a matter that concerns the party, she should have reported the matter to us. I have not been following the matter but I can assure you that I will engage her and find out what could be the problem because we expect her as a party member to have gathered all the facts or evidence before going public with them.”
He added that he is not aware of any tension between Dow and President Masisi, saying her nomination to Parliament by the President is evidence of good terms between the two.
“I believe that they are on good terms even though Dow later resigned from her ministerial position that I did not link that to any tensions between the two,” said Kablay. “If there are any issues which the party believes were in contravention of the constitution, they will summon her and deal with the matter internally.”
Meanwhile, BDP spokesman Kagelelo Kentse says the party will respond to Dow’s comments. “A statement from the party will come out soon because we are trying to avoid making comments in pieces,” said Kentse in an interview.
Botswana Police Service (BPS) recently said it did not want to discuss the profile and activities of the “controversial Facebook pseudo account” that specialises in digging up dirt on politically connected individuals mainly opposed to the current government and publishing it.
In a recent press statement titled Museveni as a Secret Operative of the Establishment, the opposition bloc called the account the work of a “Masisi-led BDP and DIS” smear campaign.
Asked about transgressions against the law that may be perpetrated by the often hair-raising content published by Museveni, the police would not answer. “We don’t discuss reported or potential suspects of particular crimes except when somebody has appeared in court,” said BPS spokesman Dipheko Motube, who added that they cannot investigate anyone when nobody has complained about the person.
Many people, mainly high profile political personalities, have complained that Museveni seems to be untouchable, hence he remains at large.