Oliver Modise
13 January 2009
Thamaga — Embattled Botswana National Front (BNF) leader, Otsweletse Moupo, has labelled his former comrades, Nehemiah Modubule and Elmon Tafa, tribalists because they claim that they were expelled from the BNF because they are Bakalaka.
Moupo was speaking at a rally in Thamaga whose purpose was to explain to the electorate why his party has failed to field a candidate for the up coming by-election in Thamaga West.
Over the weekend, the BNF's warring factions descended on Thamaga to battle it out in a campaign ahead of the up coming by-election.
While Moupo was attacking Tafa and Modubule, the two were also in BNF colours hosting a parallel rally to launch suspended BNF activist, Tona Selala as an independent candidate at Thamaga West.
Selala will take on the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)'s Goitseone Jane in the up coming by-election to be held on the 17th of this month.
A seemingly furious Moupo told the gathering that Modubule and Tafa were peddling talk that there is an ethnic cleansing campaign within the BNF targeting mainly Bakalaka.
"All this is utter nonsense and rubbish," blasted Moupo. He said that when Mogalakwe Mogalakwe was expelled from the BNF after the 2007 Molepolole special congress there was never any talk of tribalism.
Moupo said that when the party expelled Philip Monowe and others back in 2003 Monowe never talked tribalism.
Moupo said that it was embarrassing that Tafa and Modubule would preach tribal sentiments adding that if given power the two men could plunge the country into chaos by inciting tribal divisions.
"Ba tetse semorahe ebile ba rata maemo mo go heteletseng - They are tribalistic and they love power," charged Moupo.
Moupo said Tafa and Modubule were fake socialists. Moupo trashed Tafa's newspaper opinions as garbage. He said that the two men did not have stamina to contain all the social and political vilifications he has faced. He said that faced with all his problems, one of them would have committed suicide.
He said that he did not want to unleash his 'dogs' to respond to their attacks but said that he was being pushed too far and would soon launch an onslaught against Modubule and Tafa even if it means bringing out all their skeletons from the closet.
Moupo said he will have the last laugh.
Party chairman, Bashi Sengwaketsi, who was part of Moupo's entourage said that it was embarrassing that Tafa, Modubule, Akanyang Magama and Lebohang Letsie were trying to turn the BNF into their personal fiefdom.
He criticised the expelled group's decision to rally behind Selala using BNF colours and chanting party slogans. He said that the BNF belonged to the people and had a long history of surviving through hard times adding that his party leadership was not intimidated by attacks from the expelled members
"People want jobs from the BNF," said Sengwaketsi. He said that he was surprised that Modubule had been expelled from the BNF along with his Socialist Party (PUSO) and yet he wanted to stand as an independent candidate in Lobatse.
"He said he wondered why Modubule was not standing for his party. Sengwaketsi said that Modubule was manipulative, using some youthful activists within the BNF to promote his agenda.
Meanwhile, Tafa has warned BNF members to take extra effort to oust Moupo as the party's president stating that if Moupo is allowed to stay then they will be no BNF by 2010.
Tafa says that it is disheartening that four people hold the party at ransom, one whom he said was a lunatic, while another was a marijuana addict and another a University of Botswana dropout. He said that the party's secretary general is a semi illiterate person who cannot even jot down minutes of a central committee meeting.
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