Posts

Ba-Zezuru, Ba-Apostoli, Ba-Shona: Who are these people?

 No doubt they know who they are and how they came to be called that. I have been searching around for the answer to that question; I think I know the answer too. The three names all originate from the building of Great Nzi-Mabwe (Great Zimbabwe). I have written before that Ba-Zezuru is a corruption of the Kalanga word Ba-Sesuli, meaning peelers. If you have been to Great Zimbabwe ruins you will probably have concluded, as I did, that the stone slabs used to build (without mortar) were peeled off the massive round-topped granite mountains nearby. The peelers were the Ba-Zezuru (Ba-Sesuli). But how did the builders facilitate peeling of layers of rock? They used water; probably alternating very hot and very cold water. Therein lies the explanation for Ba-Shona. In Kalanga “Sho” means pierce or prick; “I-na” means water. So Ba-Shona means those who pierce with water. Finally, Ba-Apostoli were those directing the collectors of peeled and fashioned slabs where to take and where not to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mmapudi (Madame Goat) Fidelis

 Ordinarily I do not buy a newspaper with anything about the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) on the front page. I say ordinarily because I may have done so if there were prospects of a particularly revolting scandal unfolding, as in the current case. The latest newspaper “The Voice”, has on the front page, pictures of three (3) members of the BDP, among them former Minister of Agriculture Fidelis Molao. The newspaper approached the three men to confirm or refute allegations that they were somehow involved in a cartel to overthrow the BDP leader Mpho Balopi. They all denied the allegations. What I found particularly interesting was what Fidelis Molao said. He said that in an old voice note he had asked for the forensic audit to be made public, something which apparently offended some people. He also reiterated his support for party officials stepping aside when facing criminal proceedings before the courts in order for the accused to defend themselves without putting the name of the...
Post a Comment
Read more

A frustrated individual

 I just had a concversation with an upset man. He gave his name as Damien Uwe Hobona, in the village of Mafhungo/Hubona. I will try to present his narration verbatim as follows: On 28th of this month I visited a private clinic in Francistown to get advice on diet. A relative works there. I was advised that my medical scheme (BPOMAS) necessitates that I be referred by my doctor, having done tests, to the clinic. It made sense. My relative asked me how I am feeling though. I told him “reasonably fine”. He suggested that he take my blood pressure. I obliged. He took two readings, declared the pressure is fine. Then he took a piece of paper, wrote down the date and wrote down some numbers: Bp ….; Pulse…..; MAP….; Repeat…. He then suggested that if I have reason to suspect that my blood pressure is not O.K. when I am at home in Mafhungo/Hubona village, perhaps the best thing would be to visit the clinic in Mafhungo/Hubona and check my blood pressure, seeing as I do not know how to measu...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to steal a 14000 hectares ranch - (Two)

 Mindful of the great extent to which the British Colonial administration seems to have gone to obscure the beacon positions of Hubona Nshakazhogwe’s ranch, I am constrained to describe in any detail, the actual position of Hubona Nshakazhogwe’s stolen ranch.  Suffice it to say that the British referred to the ranch as Nshakazhogwe ranch.  Needless to say, that ranch is nowhere to be found on official Botswana Government maps. Instead a FAKE “Nshakazhogwe ranch” now appears, well to the north of what the British can surely identify as the correct position of the genuine Nshakazhogwe ranch. The genuine Nshakazhogwe ranch lies between the two latitudes (20 degrees 48.996 minutes South) and (21 degrees 01.460 mintues South). The FAKE “Nshakazhogwe ranch” has been drawn on the official Botswana Government’s  1: 1000 000 map, between the latitudes (20 degrees 42.162 minutes South) and (20 degrees 46.486 minutes South). Just like the stolen, genuine Nshakazhogwe ranch, the...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to steal a fourteen thousand (14000) hectares ranch

Stealing fourteen thousand hectares of pristine, flat, productive land may seem hard to accomplish, but not if the thief is a government, and the owner of the land is illiterate. As our country’s sixtieth Independence anniversary approaches, one family sees it as yet another milestone in their forced deprivation. Hubona Nshakazhogwe was a peasant in colonial Bechuanaland Protectorate, who sued Chief Khama iii following the chief’s despatch of a regiment to assault, and if necessary, kill him in or around the year 1914. Hubona won the suit on appeal to the British Privy Council, and was compensated with the 14000 hectares of land. That land has now been stolen.  To be fair to the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) party, which came to power only in 2024 after fifty eight (58) years of rule by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) , the UDC had nothing to do with the said theft. The theft was entirely the work of the BDP government. But conventional wisdom, and even the legal ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to solve the "one boundary" problem

We have identified a problem regarding the SADC unity referenda between South Africa and Lesotho. Given that there is only one boundary involved, the referendum in Lesotho would simply reduce to whether the Lesotho nationals want unity or not, rather than to assigning different weights to different boundaries as in other countries, South Africa included. The referendum billet in Lesotho would then be about unity, and not about which country to unite with. If UNITY passes the referendum test, then we could end up with a new composite country called South Afr-otho (South Afrotho) at Level1. Well, just thinking... 
Post a Comment
Read more

Further on SADC unities' referenda

 The referenda can be conducted simultaneously or at different times in all SADC countries. However, the best results are likely to accrue from simultaneous referenda because such referenda eliminate neighbour contamination bias. Unity of SADC countries is assumed to be in stages, herein referred to as unity levels (UL). Unity Level1 (UL1) proceeds from the current state of country sovereignty to the first composite sovereignty, where some countries will have united with others. Unity Level2 (UL2) involves the unity of composite, as opposed to initial, sovereignties. As Unity levels are progressively traversed, the nature of the SADC organisation itself will gradually approach a Union State. How long a stage or level lasts will be determined by the SADC organisation prevailing at the time.  This write-up concerns itself only with Unity level1 (UL1).  A SADC member country (SMC) may unite only with a SMC with which it shares a common border. A sea border is considered a co...
Post a Comment
Read more