 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (September 2017) |
Botswana People's Party | |
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| Abbreviation | BPP |
| Leader | Motlatsi Molapisi |
| Secretary-General | Onalenna Chabaya |
| Founder | Kgalemang T. Motsete |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | Shango house, Francistown |
| Ideology | Democratic socialism Pan-Africanism |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| National affiliation | Umbrella for Democratic Change |
| National Assembly | 4 / 61 |
| Party flag | |
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The Botswana People's Party (BPP), originally the Bechuanaland People's Party, is a political party in Botswana 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 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) won a landslide victory, taking 28 of the 31 contested seats. BPP won three seats.