Botswana People’s Party
Botswana People's Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Motlatsi Molapisi |
| Secretary-General | Onalenna Chabaya |
| Founder | Kgalemang T. Motsete |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | Shango house, Francistown |
| Ideology | Pan-Africanism |
| National affiliation | Umbrella for Democratic Change |
The Botswana People's Party (BPP) was formed as the Bechuanaland People's Party during Botswana's colonial era, in December 1960. As a result of disappointment with the Legislative Council, under the leadership of Kgalemang T. Motsete, an accomplished music composer and educationist, BPP became the first mass party to agitate for full independence.
Motsamai Mpho, who had been tried for treason under the Union of South Africa Terrorism Act, was the secretary general. Internal dissension during the first national elections in 1965 resulted in a schism and the birth of the Bechuanaland Independence Party (now Botswana Independence Party) under Mpho's leadership. Motsete attempted to retain a small group of the BPP's old guard but lost power to Phillip Matante. The first general elections were held in March 1965, and the Bechuanaland Democratic Party (now Botswana Democratic Party) won a landslide victory, taking 28 of the 31 contested seats. BPP won three seats.
The party was formed in 1960 as the Bechuanaland People's Party under the leadership of Motsete, Matante and Mpho. The party's formation was indirectly stimulated by the flow of South African exiles following the Sharpeville massacre in March 1960. The party's structure was based on the African National Congress (ANC), but infighting quickly plagued the party. The party became an opposition party to the traditionalist Botswana Democratic Party, then led by Seretse Khama. .
Motsete had political exposure and influence from the Pan-Africanism and South African political liberation movements, namely the ANC and the Pan African Congress (PAC). Kwame Nkruma and Ghanaian independence further influenced the BPP. The main objective of the party was to liberate the people of the Bechuanaland Protectorate from colonialism; this objective was achieved in September 1966 when the country became independent.
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