Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
Ephraim Keoreng
10 July 2009
MELS Botswana president, Themba Joina says his party is growing into a powerful force and spreading its influence like a veldt fire across the nation.
He told Mmegi that though in the last general election they only contested four constituencies, they are expecting to increase the number in this year's elections.
He stated that so far they have managed to field candidates in five constituencies, including Mogoditshane, the traditional constituency of the MELS leader. According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) spokesperson Mpho Maifala, Joina got 27 votes in the 2004 general election.
The other constituencies that they have fielded candidates in include Kweneng East, Gaborone West North, Palapye and Francistown South, revealed Joina.
In all the constituencies, he said they also have candidates for councils.
He said that they will continue to field candidates across the country until next month. When asked if his party ever held primary elections to select candidates to represent the party at the general election, Joina said:
"We hold primary elections where the party structures have failed to come up with a consensus candidate. We encourage a consensus candidate, that is where a consensus is reached to select an individual to represent the party at the (general) elections.
Consensus candidates are good because we believe when you send someone who represents our socialist ideology, it is like sending yourself there (to Parliament or council)," he said.
He said that because of the fact that his party does not look interesting especially to political opportunists, who feel the party's political fortunes are almost non-existent, they do not attract people who jostle for power.
Opportunists, he said, prefer to keep back and study his movement from a distance to see if they can reap anything from MELS.
"We are growing and they will soon come and start fighting for positions as in other parties like the Botswana National Front (BNF)," he said.
He said the reason why the BNF is experiencing trouble is because of lack of political education. He said during Kenneth Koma's leadership, the BNF was doing well because it had serious political education where members were taught about the party's political ideology, vision, policies and manifesto. However, he said, the new leadership has been relaxed.
"Nowadays anyone can be a leader as long as they have a lot of money. There is also a spirit of cultism that is developing around BNF leaders such that leaders are seen as the sole owners of wisdom, who cannot err.
Those who question them are seen as challenging the party itself and are fired as we have seen with the likes of Robert Molefhabangwe and Nehemiah Modubule.
This is a result of lack of political education on the part of the party membership. They should engage the leadership and interrogate these decisions," he said.
In his response, BNF spokesperson Moeti Mohwasa said that though they have not done much in educating the membership, they have made efforts.
Regarding discipline he said that every party has a code of conduct. If members do not comply with the rules, he added, measures have to be taken and this includes firing them.
"Discipline cannot be compromised just because it's an election year.
We have actually been told by some people that we took far too long to fire some of these guys who had given the party a hard time for a long time," Mohwasa said.
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