Shashe

Our country has just spent P134 million (US$13 million) on a national registration exercise for the upcoming October 2019 general elections. In my view, this is wasted money.Thinking "outside the box" you can't help wondering why voters have to register at all before they can vote. Registration of voters introduces issues of "voter trafficking", among many other ills, in an election, The voters' roll that is compiled during the registration exercise can instead be compiled by the voters' actual casting of the ballot at the voting booth, provided: (a) The voter can only vote once during an election (b) A record of where the voter cast his/her vote is kept for the next five years. In our country everyone above the age of sixteen (16) years is required by law to carry a national identification document (NID) bearing the individual's full name. date of birth, thumb print and other identifying characteristics. The NID is commonly referred to as "...

's (May 19 - 25, 2019) Sunday Standard newspaper has fingered four opposition politicians as possibly facing election ban because they allegedly supplied wrong addresses to voter registration officials as their principal domicile addresses. The newspaper lists names of other people who are also registered as living at those addresses. Unless the Sunday Standard has broken the law, in which case the Police would be on their trail by now, the newspaper has shown us that the law permits the contents of the voters' roll to be published! That is what the Sunday Standard has just done - published contents of the voters' roll. Given the importance of a correctly compiled voters' roll in the coming October 2019 general elections, why would the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) not publish the voters' roll on their website? Surely publishing the complete voters' roll would be in the best interests of the main stake holders in the coming election, namely the v...

One day in China: In order for China to win a world war, all she has to do is let one or two divisions of the Peoples' Liberation army surrender:- Mao Tse Tung. Recently in Botswana: In order for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to win the 2019 General Elections, all BDP has to do is let one or two former Presidents "resign"! Boko, be warned!

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?