The Umbrella for Democratic Change seems to be in a bind – going nowhere.
History shows that every time attempts at opposition coalition collapse in Botswana, progress in opposition politics is set back by no less than twenty years.
The same history also shows that attempts at renewing such coalition later is much harder than it was the previous times.
It has become customary to recess Parliament on account that Cabinet Ministers did not show up to answer pre-noticed questions and respond to motions presented by Members of Parliament. In most occasions Cabinet Ministers would either be outside the country on official business or would have undertaken some field trips to the serene countryside that offers opportunities for leisure.
One of the privileges of being a lexicographer is that you tend to find out language issues which other people take for granted. In the past few years I have gained much fascination from the history of words, that is, where they come from. The Setswana that we speak has gone through much change over the years.
Former President Lt Gen Ian Khama’s supporters are lobbying him to contest for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) chairmanship in what is believed to be part of a grand plan to oust President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
A few days after the UDC leak started to do rounds, I forwarded it to a Pretoria based psychiatrist acquaintance with a note; please provide me with a brief and dispassionate psychological diagnosis of the key characters in this conversation.
Even with the world’s most gracious hopes and the world’s best of wishes, Zimbabwe is failing to give so much as an encouraging indication of a willingness to chart a new path of governance and a decent, honest way to hold credible elections.
The perennial display of a disconnect between Government and office of former president Ian Khama is much more than a passing event.
It should be viewed as an existential threat to the incumbent president Mokgweetsi Masisi. A failure to act will leave current president badly exposed.
In the eyes of some bankrupt, beggared foreign nationals, Batswana are the worst scum under the sun. This insult is generally preached by some sweat-scented thankless foreigners who feign attachment to their countries of nationality but yet refuse to spend half day in their homelands mainly because theirs are worse that an animal sanctuary.
