A group of veteran Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) elders has launched a behind-the-scenes effort to support party president Mpho Balopi, who faces mounting pressure to step down following criminal charges filed against him by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions. The elders, who have thrown their weight behind Balopi, are urging him to hold firm against demands for his resignation. They argue that his presidency was secured through the party's internal machinery and that only that machinery can release him from his position.
The intervention by the BDP elders comes at a critical moment, with the party visibly split over Balopi's fate. One camp is clamoring for his resignation, while another is adamant that he must remain at the helm. The elders have privately assured Balopi of their support, insisting that he has an obligation to consult all party structures and obtain approval from those structures that elected him into office before stepping aside.
The BDP elders have also reserved some of their sharpest criticism for rivals outside their own ranks, accusing the Botswana National Front (BNF) of stoking the turbulence engulfing the party. They have laid some of the blame at the feet of President Duma Boko and former president Mokgweetsi Masisi for the troubles now besetting the BDP. The elders' aim, they insist, is the survival of the party – its stability today and its fortunes tomorrow.
The BDP elders are guarding their identities carefully, citing a fear of being singled out by the governing Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). They have declined to name their members, with one elder suggesting that anonymity is a matter of survival, given their advanced age and perceived vulnerability to political retaliation. They may yet step into the light, the elders suggest, once the present storm has passed and the political temperature has cooled.
The quarrel has drawn fire from the BNF, with its vice president and Minister of State in the Presidency, Moeti Mohwasa, accusing the BDP of pointing fingers at the UDC government for ailments that first took root during the party's own long tenure in power. Mohwasa claimed that the BDP is being handled more gently in opposition than the BNF ever was in the same wilderness years.
The decisive contest is unfolding not between parties but within one, with the question of whether Balopi keeps his grip on the leadership fast becoming a defining test of the BDP's cohesion. The dispute traces back to the prosecutors' decision to charge Balopi and his co-accused, in a case that reportedly folds in allegations of fraud and money laundering — a legal cloud now hanging over a party still searching for its footing.
The BDP elders have made it clear that they are serious about their party and will defend it to ensure that it is back on track and wins the 2029 general election with a clean sheet. For now, they remain in the shadows, but their support for Balopi is a clear indication that the party's leadership crisis is far from over.
Key points
- BDP elders are discreetly backing party president Mpho Balopi amid a leadership crisis triggered by criminal charges against him.
- The elders have accused the Botswana National Front of stoking the turbulence engulfing the BDP.
- The party's leadership crisis is a defining test of the BDP's cohesion, with implications for its future prospects.
