BDP Palapye retreat: Storm or second wind?

Since its loss in the 2024 General Election, the BDP has been navigating a period of reflection, uncertainty and internal debate. For months, party members across branches and regions have engaged in intense conversations about what went wrong and, more importantly, what must change. Yet, according to BDP executive secretary Ame Makoba, the party has not had sufficient space to confront these issues collectively and without distraction.

“Obviously, since the loss of the 2024 polls, we have not had the opportunity as a party to discuss issues at length at a national level without the distraction of internal elections,” Makoba said in an interview on Tuesday this week. “The retreat presents the party with this much-needed opportunity.” Indeed, internal elections and structural contests for the BDP have, in recent months, overshadowed broader ideological and strategic discussions. The statement, whilst some may say, comes a little bit too late, is timely as gender-based violence (GBV) continues to haunt the country.

A week hardly passes without reports of a wife, a girlfriend or boyfriend being killed by their intimate partners. Just recently, a high-ranking officer stationed at Glen Valley Barracks reportedly murdered his wife and has so far managed to evade arrest. It is also alleged that another soldier murdered his…