The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

The Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development Mpho Balopi handed President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi a surprise gift on the Eve of Christmas when he resigned from Cabinet.

Indeed, the two men’s differences must have been irreconcilable to compel the ruling Botswana Democratic Party’s secretary-general to walk out on his president.

According to a statement from the Office of the President (OP), President Masisi accepted Balopi’s resignation and thanked him for his excellent service in the Executive and to the nation

Balopi will remain a Member of Parliament (MP) for Gaborone North.

 In a spirited attempt to counter social media speculations that he would soon quit the party as well to join the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change, (UDC), Balopi issued a statement to dispel the assertions on his Facebook account.

Balopi wrote: “Serving in the cabinet under the leadership of His Excellency Dr M. E. K. Masisi has been a great honour. I am convinced that I have done my best, and it is time to move on.

“As with every journey, the end is inevitable. I have tendered my resignation from the cabinet as Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, and it was accepted graciously by HE.

“I now move on to serving Batswana in other capacities – As MP for Gaborone North, I will have more time for my constituents. I will devote more time to the position of Secretary-General of the BDP, the organization that I so dearly love.

“As I leave, I must express that I thoroughly enjoyed working with my entire capable team at the ministry led by PS Mr Goitsemang. I also built solid working relations with the HOLY TRIPARTITE, i.e. Labour movement, Business Botswana, and many other stakeholders such as ILO, ARLAC..etc. God willing, we will work together in other facets of service to Batswana.

“Thank you all for always supporting me every step of the way.

Merry Christmas!”

Balopi’s resignation signals serious trouble in the ruling BDP, which last week suffered a humiliating defeat in local government by-elections managing to secure only three seats from the 11 contested wards, eight of which were won by the opposition.

It is significant that the BDP’s defeat was in large part attributed to aggrieved councillors, some of whom are sympathetic to Balopi.

In an interview in the year 2020 when Cabinet met for a retreat just after the 2019 general election, Balopi described the work of the party secreyary general as the glue that holds the party and government machinery together.

He said, “The SG’s work is a bit broader. You are not running the office alone. You are running a Secretariat that is structured that has executive secretary and various working committees.

“It is more of coordination and putting things together. The primary issue about secretary-generalship is alignment to the leader. As SG you must know that you are the political gatekeeper for the president.

“You don’t have to cut your own path – and ultimately that’s what will cause serious divisions within the party if not managed well because you think you are a leader unto yourself because you are manning the Secretariat, but you should know that you are still very much accountable to the president and the chairman and entire leadership of the party.

“So as SG you are a pillar in terms of making sure that you don’t cause divisions you’d rather harmonise the environment and be able to consistently have the resilience of not breaking apart when they really expect you to do so, because when the SG breaks apart the party breaks apart”.

Asked about his views about the new and youthful Cabinet at the time, Balopi said he was “really excited” about it and hoped that they are going to deliver and “not disappoint Batswana because I strongly believe we are not only voted by BDP members only, this was a vote of confidence in our President.”

So what could have suddenly changed? It is said that Balopi harbours ambitions to challenge Masisi for the party presidency, something Balopi has vehemently denied, affirming that he is not ambitious.

Perhaps he is disappointed by attempts to displace him from the party’s chief executive position and install in his stead, Lesang Magang, the son of the estate mogul and former cabinet minister under former president Festus Mogae, David Magang.

However, others very close to Balopi say he is frustrated at the way the government is being run.