Shashe

In the current public spat between former president Ian Khama and current President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the nation seems to have lost its head. Most analysts, commentators and all sorts of "experts" agree on one thing - Ian Khama is to blame, because he resorted to tribalism to fight a political "war". Nobody bothers to think; not even newspaper columnists with a PhD who continuously peddle this trash. Everybody conveniently overlooks the fact that Ian Khama, just like the Republic he once ruled, is an embodiment of tribalism itself. Ian Khama does not have to invoke tribalism. As a "paramount chief" of one of the largest Tribal Territories (TT) he wears tribalism everywhere he goes. At Botswana's attainment of "independence" in 1966, the colonialists passed onto us a country wrapped in a giant tribal gift wrap. Unfortunately, instead of rejecting the tribal present, WE ALLOWED THE SO-CALLED FOUNDING FATHERS to accept the tribal gift on our be...

Democracy has to be built on the fundamental principle that NO VOTER VOTES MORE THAN ONCE. Failure to uphold that principle renders any election a farce. But just how hard does our government try to prevent multiple votes being cast by one voter during national elections? Does government employ all measures at its disposal to stop this malaise from distorting our election results? A cursory look at some current operations under government systems suggests that even without resorting to the electronic voting machine (EVM) government can prevent a voter from VOTING MORE THAN ONCE. Yesterday I mistakenly tried to pay road license for my vehicle at the Department of Road Services and Safety (DRTS). I had assumed that my vehicle road license expires at end of December, like so many other licenses do. However, on entering my vehicle's number into the computer, the licensing cashier told me that my current license is still valid, and that THEIR SYSTEMS HAVE NO PROVISION FOR ACCEPTING MO...