Shashe

I have written about how the British colonial administration prepared us for our very first General Elections of 1965 here, in the northern part of the then Bakhwanaland (correct spelling of "Bechuanaland") Protectorate. An educational film was released, in which the main actors were a couple - Mosupi and his wife ( Mosupi ne nkadzi uwe ). The only Tswana language word in that whole half hour or so film was "Mosupi". Everything else was in Kalanga language. The couple's clothing was blue-themed as is our flag. Our elections' colours have stayed the same colour for every election since; until the current election registration exercise changed them to red! And of course the 1965 elections were the last to address Kalangas in Kalanga language. Our "independent" Republic government has since banned Kalanga language. So when I recently saw the red elections advertisement billboard, emblazoned with the word "iketleetse" in central Masunga tow...

In a properly functioning democracy, there would be no need for the country's president to be alerted about the dangers that noise poses to the economy. But ours is not a properly functioning democracy. Two buses belonging to the same company are on the highway. The bus behind slams into the rear of the front bus, killing five people. Our country manufactures almost nothing, yet the spectacle of traffic lights having been knocked down, especially at month end is a NORMAL occurrence on our roads. Murderers walk the streets after a short stint in prison for brutally killing their lovers, because where "relationship" can be proved to have occurred between murderer and victim, the courts cannot impose the death penalty on the murderer. The quality of our primary education  has sunk so low that the only child who fails the primary school leaving examination is one who didn't sit for the examination at all. Drought relief ( ipelegeng ) program "workers" spend ni...

As I post this, a "fire" church next door, in a residential area, is blarring its loudspeaker into everybody's bedroom. Just what country is being corrected here? Are the powers that be not even ashamed when babies can't sleep, when truck drivers can't sleep, when school children can't sleep?

We are told by Barwa that Tribal Territories (TTs) are essential for us to live in peace in Botswana. Furthermore Barwa claim that the TTs do not disrupt lives of tribal people in any way whatsoever, because a tribal person from GaNgwaketse can apply for land allocation in any TT in Botswana, and be allocated that land. If indeed a Mongwato applying for land in Kweneng TT is not discriminated against on grounds of being a "foreigner", why then should the two TTs (Kweneng and GaMmangwato) exist? Why should national resources be wasted in administrating these TTs? Why were the names of TTs disguised as "Districts", e.g. Southern District, Central District, Kgatleng District?

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...

Credit for the title's source is duly given to Mrs. Margaret Thatcher on her departure to give her resignation to the Queen, as reported by the BBC. I have just read an article titled "The myth of the Masisi-Khama feud" in the latest Sunday Standard newspaper. The author of the article is not revealed. My views that the Khama-Masisi feud is NOT real have not changed. I still believe it is a ruse to hoard news space by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP, aka Domi). That said, I agree completely with the author of the Sunday Standard article. But the author made one big mistake: in his/her zeal to show how former president Ian Khama broke the law, and how President Mokgweetsi Masisi is merely applying the law, the author ignores a vital piece of information reported elsewhere in the same paper. Just two pages prior, in a report titled "Francistown land scam syndicate slapped with heavy penalties", Joseph Balise quotes High Court Judge Lot Moroka (in p...