Political gimmicks
This post is relevant only to citizens of our country.
Somewhere in the capital city Gaborone, lies a freshly severed head of a Botswana woman. The grieving relatives buried the headless torso a few weeks ago. According to news reports, the boyfriend has already appeared before a magistrate, charged with her murder.
Somewhere in Mathangwane a woman lies critically injured on the head by a love partner. Somewhere ................ It goes on and on, in this month of elimination of gender-based violence against women and the girl child.
The first question that comes to mind is: Where are women leaders of this country? Where are women leaders in the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), a party commonly known as Domi? Where is Dorcas Makgatho? What has she, in her official capacity as BDP women's leader, said about these heinous crimes perpetrated against her kind? If she said anything publicly, I must have missed it, and I apologise for calling her out.
What I did not miss though, is her feverish search for so-called aliens in our country. You see, Dorcas is minister responsible for Nationality and Gender Affairs, or something to that effect. In our country there are people who were born of Botswana citizens residing in foreign countries at the time. The best known example is former president Ian Khama, who was born in England where his father was either studying or was banished by the colonial British Government from coming back home. Some of these "aliens" did not renounce their "foreign" citizenships when they attained the maximum permissible age for dual/multiple citizenship. With some, it was through sheer ignorance, while with others, well we don't know! Unlike U.S. President Barack Obama who showed the American nation his birth certificate when challenged about his citizenship, our former president Ian Khama showed the nation nothing when challenged to show that he indeed renounced his British citizenship. I sincerely hope that that "nothing" was infact NOT the middle finger.
And so as our country hurtles towards next year's general elections, and as compilation of the associated voters' roll assumes critical importance, Dorcas has to "drop everything" and concentrate on making "aliens" indebted to Domi for staying "illegally" in the country. She does that by extending "amnesty" to "deserving cases", of course. Who knows? Such "aliens" may well end up extending a voting lifeline to embattled Domi at the polls next year!
Talking about embattled Domi, that should not be confused with the soap opera currently in full swing and featuring actors Ian Khama, his brother Tshekedi, and the puppet master at State House, President Mokgweetsi Masisi. This three-some would like us to believe that there is political conflict between the puppeteer and Ian Khama. Domi's obedient press continually dishes out the same c**p to keep us, the reading public, enthralled in fake machinations by their political whiz kids. And all the while Domi is laughing her a*se off. The really sad part, to the rest of us of course, is that these whiz kids have successfully ensnared comrade Duma Boko into their fake "political fight". Of course Duma Boko is a lawyer, and so when an "aggrieved" Ian Khama approaches him to seek redress from the courts, there is no way Boko can refuse. But once Boko takes up the challenge, he is politically silenced from commenting about the matter - lawyer/client relationships. And Domi laughs all the way to the political "bank"!
Look, Ian Khama grew up with the late Tshelang Masisi, President Mokgweetsi Masisi's elder brother, around State House. Tshelang told us as much when, in his view, Ian Khama was not doing right as President of the republic some years back. So, Ian Khama knows Mokgweetsi Masisi well, infact better than he knows Minister Molefhi. The only person whose acquaintance with Ian Khama may rival that of Mokgweetsi Masisi is is Minister Mokaila, whose father Dingaan was Seretse Khama's private secretary. However, Dingaan was a civil servant, while Mokgweetsi's father was a Minister of Government. Another factor which militates against Dingaan Mokaikla's son is the need for Bangwato to make Political concessions to Bakgatla, their traditional competitors since the colonial times. Bearing in mind that Bakwena, Bangwato and Bangwaketse are essentially one tribe - Barwa, the Bakgatla are the only tribe that the British had to take cognizance of during the allocation of tribal territories. The rest of the tribal territories were essentially an afterthought. It is no wonder that Ian Khama, a Mongwato, becquethed the presidency to a Mokgatla, albeit one from Ma-naana and not from the Kgafela group. So, however much you may wish to believe that there is a genuine rift between Ian Khama and Mokgweetsi Masisi, history and facts suggest otherwise. Mokgweetsi Masisi's succession to the presidency was by long calculated design, and the current hullabaloo is all fake political grandstanding by Domi!
Look, many of us would like to see Ian Khama hauled over the coals for the corruption that his regime allowed to run riot in our country. But because of the perceived "rift" between Ian Khama and the President, some of us feel that by criticizing Khama, we would be automatically siding with President Masisi. The rest feel exactly the same way about criticizing Masisi; they can't afford to appear to side with Khama in this fake "political rift".
So the two buddies, Ian Khama and Mokgweetsi Masisi probably give each other high fives when we, the Wananchi, are out of earshot. They have every reason to pat each other on the back. Their little gimmick is doing wonders! The nation is silenced. That Ian Khama and Mokgweetsi Masisui were, respectively, the most powerful and second most powerful men in the corruption-ridden administration that we have just emerged from, means absolutely nothing to us for as long as the fake "rift" persists.
Is money for legal fees of much concern to these guys? The puppeteer gets "defended" directly from our taxes. As for the other "protagonist", until we know where the millions from the National petroleum fund disappeared to; who gave the go-ahead for the three billion Pula stake acquisition by BCL in Nkomati Mine and why; with whom the "buck stopped" in the Nkomati deal; we have no reason to doubt his ability to afford the legal fees in this fake stand-off.
Somewhere in the capital city Gaborone, lies a freshly severed head of a Botswana woman. The grieving relatives buried the headless torso a few weeks ago. According to news reports, the boyfriend has already appeared before a magistrate, charged with her murder.
Somewhere in Mathangwane a woman lies critically injured on the head by a love partner. Somewhere ................ It goes on and on, in this month of elimination of gender-based violence against women and the girl child.
The first question that comes to mind is: Where are women leaders of this country? Where are women leaders in the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), a party commonly known as Domi? Where is Dorcas Makgatho? What has she, in her official capacity as BDP women's leader, said about these heinous crimes perpetrated against her kind? If she said anything publicly, I must have missed it, and I apologise for calling her out.
What I did not miss though, is her feverish search for so-called aliens in our country. You see, Dorcas is minister responsible for Nationality and Gender Affairs, or something to that effect. In our country there are people who were born of Botswana citizens residing in foreign countries at the time. The best known example is former president Ian Khama, who was born in England where his father was either studying or was banished by the colonial British Government from coming back home. Some of these "aliens" did not renounce their "foreign" citizenships when they attained the maximum permissible age for dual/multiple citizenship. With some, it was through sheer ignorance, while with others, well we don't know! Unlike U.S. President Barack Obama who showed the American nation his birth certificate when challenged about his citizenship, our former president Ian Khama showed the nation nothing when challenged to show that he indeed renounced his British citizenship. I sincerely hope that that "nothing" was infact NOT the middle finger.
And so as our country hurtles towards next year's general elections, and as compilation of the associated voters' roll assumes critical importance, Dorcas has to "drop everything" and concentrate on making "aliens" indebted to Domi for staying "illegally" in the country. She does that by extending "amnesty" to "deserving cases", of course. Who knows? Such "aliens" may well end up extending a voting lifeline to embattled Domi at the polls next year!
Talking about embattled Domi, that should not be confused with the soap opera currently in full swing and featuring actors Ian Khama, his brother Tshekedi, and the puppet master at State House, President Mokgweetsi Masisi. This three-some would like us to believe that there is political conflict between the puppeteer and Ian Khama. Domi's obedient press continually dishes out the same c**p to keep us, the reading public, enthralled in fake machinations by their political whiz kids. And all the while Domi is laughing her a*se off. The really sad part, to the rest of us of course, is that these whiz kids have successfully ensnared comrade Duma Boko into their fake "political fight". Of course Duma Boko is a lawyer, and so when an "aggrieved" Ian Khama approaches him to seek redress from the courts, there is no way Boko can refuse. But once Boko takes up the challenge, he is politically silenced from commenting about the matter - lawyer/client relationships. And Domi laughs all the way to the political "bank"!
Look, Ian Khama grew up with the late Tshelang Masisi, President Mokgweetsi Masisi's elder brother, around State House. Tshelang told us as much when, in his view, Ian Khama was not doing right as President of the republic some years back. So, Ian Khama knows Mokgweetsi Masisi well, infact better than he knows Minister Molefhi. The only person whose acquaintance with Ian Khama may rival that of Mokgweetsi Masisi is is Minister Mokaila, whose father Dingaan was Seretse Khama's private secretary. However, Dingaan was a civil servant, while Mokgweetsi's father was a Minister of Government. Another factor which militates against Dingaan Mokaikla's son is the need for Bangwato to make Political concessions to Bakgatla, their traditional competitors since the colonial times. Bearing in mind that Bakwena, Bangwato and Bangwaketse are essentially one tribe - Barwa, the Bakgatla are the only tribe that the British had to take cognizance of during the allocation of tribal territories. The rest of the tribal territories were essentially an afterthought. It is no wonder that Ian Khama, a Mongwato, becquethed the presidency to a Mokgatla, albeit one from Ma-naana and not from the Kgafela group. So, however much you may wish to believe that there is a genuine rift between Ian Khama and Mokgweetsi Masisi, history and facts suggest otherwise. Mokgweetsi Masisi's succession to the presidency was by long calculated design, and the current hullabaloo is all fake political grandstanding by Domi!
Look, many of us would like to see Ian Khama hauled over the coals for the corruption that his regime allowed to run riot in our country. But because of the perceived "rift" between Ian Khama and the President, some of us feel that by criticizing Khama, we would be automatically siding with President Masisi. The rest feel exactly the same way about criticizing Masisi; they can't afford to appear to side with Khama in this fake "political rift".
So the two buddies, Ian Khama and Mokgweetsi Masisi probably give each other high fives when we, the Wananchi, are out of earshot. They have every reason to pat each other on the back. Their little gimmick is doing wonders! The nation is silenced. That Ian Khama and Mokgweetsi Masisui were, respectively, the most powerful and second most powerful men in the corruption-ridden administration that we have just emerged from, means absolutely nothing to us for as long as the fake "rift" persists.
Is money for legal fees of much concern to these guys? The puppeteer gets "defended" directly from our taxes. As for the other "protagonist", until we know where the millions from the National petroleum fund disappeared to; who gave the go-ahead for the three billion Pula stake acquisition by BCL in Nkomati Mine and why; with whom the "buck stopped" in the Nkomati deal; we have no reason to doubt his ability to afford the legal fees in this fake stand-off.
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