MELS Movement Of Botswana
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The MELS Movement of Botswana was an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist communist party in
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 ...
without parliamentary representation. Themba Joina, a practicing lawyer, was the president of the organization.''Weekend Post''.
The origins of MELS - The Great Phatshwe
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The name MELS is derived from (Karl) Marx, (Friedrich) Engels, (Vladimir) Lenin and (Joseph) Stalin. MELS emerged as a study group inspired by
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and
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 ...
, founded at the Shashe Senior Secondary School in 1984. Its founding general secretary was Christopher Phatshwe.''Daily News''.
BOPA News on 20 October 2004
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The basic political documents of the movement were drafted by Christopher Phatshswe and Thomson Proctor. Branches of the movement were formed at different educational institutions, such as the
University of Botswana The University of Botswana (UB) was established in 1982, as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university currently has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The Unive ...
, Senior Secondary Schools and teacher training colleges. According to Joina, the group had contacts with the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCM(A)) and the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) in neighbouring
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
and MELS activists received political trainings from these groups. The MELS group constituting itself as a political party in 1994. Following Phatshwe's death, Mosalage Ditshoto became the new general secretary of the party. As of 2008, Mpho Mokano served as the youth secretary of the party. The MELS Movement advocated for socialist policies, calling for support to unemployed and the setting up of Student Representative Councils across the country.''Daily News''.
BOPA News on 18 August 1999
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They decried the
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 ...
's rule as 'neo-colonial'. Regarding regional issues, MELS Movement opposed the positions of
Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama() (born 27 February 1953) is a Motswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defenc ...
's government towards the contemporary political situation in
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
(charging the Botswana government with having sided with the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwean politics). At the 2011 annual delegates conference of the party in Molepolole, Joina condemned the
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
attack on
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
and called on the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...
to intervene. At the time of the 1994 parliamentary election, MELS joined the United Democratic Front, a coalition of parties opposed to both the BDP and the BNF. No MELS nor any other UDF candidate was able to get elected. The party contested the 1999 general election, but merely received twenty-two votes (0.01% of the national vote). Prior to the election, Joina stated that the party only possessed one campaign vehicle and thus party activists had to move by foot to reach voters. Following the election the MELS Movement candidate in the Gaborone West constituency, Ndiye Tlhatlogang, charged the Independent Electoral Commission with irregularities. At the 2009 general election, the party presented candidates in four parliamentary constituencies and two in local constituencies. None were elected. In total the party got 292 votes (0.05% of the national vote). The party contested the 2010 by-election in the Tonota North parliamentary constituency, fielding Mbayani Tshekedi Phalalo as its candidate. The party merged into the
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
Botswana Congress Party The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is a social democratic political party in Botswana. Founded in 1998 as a result of a split from the Botswana National Front (BNF), the party attracted most of the BNF's sitting MPs due to a leadership dispute i ...
in 2013.


References

{{Authority control 1984 establishments in Botswana Anti-revisionist organizations Stalinist parties Maoist parties Maoism in Africa Communism in Botswana Communist parties in Africa Pan-Africanist political parties in Africa Political parties established in 1994 Defunct political parties in Botswana