allAfrica.com: Botswana: Of Molf, Bnf Plotters And the Lumpen Radicals (Page 1 of 1)

In a week in which ROBERT MOLEFHABANGWE and two other BNF MPs were rumoured to be targeted with NEHEMIAH MODUBULE suspended, staff writer TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA chats with the outspoken politician.

Botswana National Front (BNF) leadership is rumoured to be plotting against its three most vocal legislators - Lobatse MP Nehemiah Modubule, Gaborone South Akanyang Magama, and Gaborone West South MP, Robert Molefhabangwe. The rumour that the three would be purged seemed to suddenly get extra credence when on Wednesday Modubule received a fax from his constituency declaring his suspension from the party.

However, it has not been any easier for the Gaborone West South, overly independent-minded MP, Molefhabangwe. There have been rumours that those in the inner portions of the BNF are not friendly to the idea of another Molefhabangwe tenure post-2009.

Molefhabangwe argues that in order to "purge" him, his enemies within the party want to take the more effective route; lose him the primary elections to be held tomorrow.

In room 24 at the Parliamentary Annexure, Molefhabangwe walks in with another man holding a packet of take-away food. The two men chat casually about the chicken curry and rice on the plastic plates.

"Don't forget that I will share with that other man," advises the man, Molefhabangwe laughs, "Monna ditoki tse pedi di le lekane. Le basimane banna," he jokes.

He holds his smile for a second but it seems to be a struggle holding on that smile, slight as it is, and it disappears perhaps slowly, but as surely as anything.

When the man has left Molefhabangwe sits on the leather office chair and suddenly looks smaller than he is. Before him, the table spreads, such that he looks further than he is. And when he starts to speak it is a low distant voice comes out except when there is a particularly strong point to be made, at which point he raises it an octave or two, opens his eyes wider and leans forward, elbows on the table.

He slowly pages through the collection of Voters' Roll records before him the way a keen student searches for a teacher's mistake in his marked paper. He grabs a marker and runs through two names on a page.

"If you look at this you would note a few things are suspect," he says opening the book wider.

A voter's roll is the book on which all voters are recorded. If the election will be won, fairly or unfairly, it will be won through the voters' roll. Candidates often refer to the records to check the voters, where they stay in a particular constituency and whether they can be won over. However, sometimes questions are much more basic, a voter may not exist at all or may even be recorded twice - meaning they will vote twice.

Politicians know that to win any election one has to know his/her voters' roll like the back of his/her hand. Molefhabangwe seems obsessed with his.

There are names that appear twice on the Marulamantsi voters' roll. For each name there is an National Identity number, a party membership number and a house number. No two voters could share these details. However, in many cases Molefhabangwe points out there are a number of voters whose names appear twice, sometimes with ID numbers jumbled up into new ones. "What I want you to tell me is whether a voters' roll like this is fit to run an election on?" he asks with a wry smile. He continues marking the names on each page. Silently. Intently.

Molefhabangwe says he has already indicated his misgivings about the voters' roll to the party. Mohammed Khan, the BNF secretary general, says he is surprised Molefhabangwe is already speaking to the media about the issue. "I received a letter this morning (Thursday) from him indicating his dissatisfaction with the process leading up to the primaries. I told him to check with the proper structures of the party. We referred him to the Elections Board," says Khan.

"It seems the Elections Board is not aware of his complaints. He should direct his complaints to them and that's what I told him" Khan worries that Molefhabangwe may not be following the right channels and that might not be helpful to everyone involved.

However, Molefhabangwe thinks his current predicament is just a microcosm of what is happening across the party. "In the BNF there are two types of people...ma-Foranta and comrades."

According to Molefhabangwe's explanation, comrades are self-centred and always want to have their way while ma-Foranta are selfless and tend to think about the interests of the movement rather than theirs. "If you are a member of the BNF and you are so because you have registered not because you have imbibed all the principles and philosophies of the movement... When you believe in 'do as I say not as I do' ga o mo-Foranta, you are a comrade. Those trying to purge everyone are what we call lumpen radicals," he recites like some priest of political thought.

And then he smiles slowly as if an exciting thought is coursing through his brain. "Mo-Foranta is the type of person who likes to speak the language of the people. When the people say the BNF and BCP (Botswana Congress Party) should unite, mo-Foranta would agree that we should unite at all costs. Why? Because BNF says unity is power," he concludes.

However, he says the party is currently under the control of "comrades". "The comrades have waged on ma-Foranta and mo-Foranta mongwe le mongwe o na le mathata a gore o tlile go nylelediwa" and with that Molefhabangwe's tale comes to a graphic end. He says it is not a new that there is a plot to oust him from the constituency. Often Molefhabangwe is seen as a type of lone ranger often charting a different position to the different influences within the party. Sometimes he has run-ins with party faithful because of this.

Molefhabangwe goes back to marking the voters' roll; a lone ranger on his lone journey? Comrade, mo-Foranta or Lumpen Radical Molefhabangwe will have to fight it out again if he is to find himself in Parliament after the next general election.

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