The Botswana People's Party (BPP), originally the Bechuanaland People's Party, is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

formed in December 1960 during the colonial era. 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 The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

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 Philip Matante. The first general elections were held in March 1965, and the Bechuanaland Democratic Party (now

Botswana Democratic Party The Botswana Democratic Party (Abbreviation, abbr. BDP, colloquially known as Domkrag) is a centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Botswana. From the country's 1965 Bechuanaland general election, inaugural election in 1965 until th ...

) won a landslide victory, taking 28 of the 31 contested seats. BPP won three seats.

History

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 The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC), but infighting quickly plagued the party. The party became an opposition party to the traditionalist

, then led by Seretse Khama. Motsete had political exposure and influence from the

Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atla ...

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 The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom. It became the Botswana, Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966. History Scottish missionary ...

from colonialism; this objective was achieved in September 1966 when the country became independent. Matante was the first president of BPP. He became the first member of

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for

Francistown Francistown is the second-largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 inhabitants and 147,122 inhabitants in its agglomeration at the 2022 census. It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gabo ...

and the leader of the opposition during independence in 1966. Matante's death created a power vacuum that led to the reversal of many of the gains that the party had made. In the 2014 general elections the BPP was granted six northern constituencies under the

Umbrella for Democratic Change The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) is a centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing Electoral alliance, alliance of political parties in Botswana. Since the 2024 Botswana general election, the UDC has been the governi ...

(UDC), as the north had historically been a BPP stronghold, but lost each one of them. The party's goal became to rebrand for the 2019 elections by establishing youth structures and regaining interest in the party under the leadership of president Mbaakanyi Smart. BPP always advocated for opposition unity. In 1989, they had a working relationship with the now defunct Botswana Progressive Party. They were part of the Botswana Alliance Movement and PACT and joined the UDC. However, BPP continues to advocate for a complete merger of opposition parties, primarily because these pacts have proved to be fragile and prone to defections. Their #RonaKoBPP social media hash tag received recognition across social media platforms. The party held its 50th elective congress under the theme "Proud of the Past, Confident of the Future", where a new National Executive Committee was elected. For the first time it included people from all parts of the country in an attempt to nationalize the party, weakening the perception that the BPP serves only Botswana in the north.

Principles

BPPs principles are: * promotion of unity on the basis of equality for all

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

and/or

language groups A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics anal ...

in a democratic state with no social, economic, racial, tribal or religious discrimination; * well-being and quality of life; * proper use of land and minerals identified as the common property of all in the motherland; * provision of work and conditions of work that ensure high levels of productivity and happiness for all; * right to life, liberty, security and equality before the law; * freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in social, economic, political and cultural life; * freedom of worship The BPP motto is "Lefatshe la Rona", "Shango Yedu", and "Ilizwe nge lethu!"

Electoral history

National Assembly elections

References

{{Authority control Pan-Africanist political parties in Africa Political parties in Botswana Political parties established in 1960 Socialism in Botswana