Richard Moleofe dumps BNF

  • Says the opposition is in bed with Khama
  • Expresses faith in President Masisi

GAZETTE Reporter

Retired military officer and army chaplain Richard Moleofe has resigned from the Botswana National Front (BNF) citing the party’s marriage with former president Ian Khama as the reason.

Moleofe, who became a politician after retiring from the BDF several years ago, says he intends to run for the Mogoditshane constituency in the next general elections in 2024.

In his letter of resignation, he says the BNF has effectively isolated and muted him since the 2019 general elections for what he believes are his utterances regarding the unofficial partnership of the party with Ian Khama through the UDC.

“It is this relationship that will wreck the party going forward,” Moleofe said in his resignation letter. “For two years now, I have not been active in any party structure as a result of the tactics of isolation that I have mentioned. I have remained faithful to the party for that time and hopeful that we would begin to work together for the good of this party and country.”

“However, the relationship with the former president and his party, the BPF, has persisted and grown exponentially. It is for this major reason that I no longer find the BNF to be my political home and will therefore seek another place of political abode where I can become politically useful.”

Asked about his next move, Moleofe told The Botswana Gazette that he is available to any party that may express interest in him. “I am ready to work with any political party,” he said. “I am not into ideologies because I have always believed that the party takes the character of its leader.”

He added that “any political party” includes the Botswana Democratic Party whose bid he would welcome if it came because he believes its president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, is a visionary leader who can take the country to the Promised Land.

“President Masisi’s greatest challenge currently is that all his efforts are being frustrated by Khama and his associates in government,” Moleofe said. “I believe he has what it takes to take this country somewhere.”