The refreshing thing about calling Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi a bootlicker is that no one ever labeled him as such, despite some people having probably long observed him to be such. It was Masisi himself who went on national television to announce his bolope. Therefore, we can’t cringe in calling him lelope. It’s a name he christened unto himself.
The race for the chairmanship of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has reached the climax and the self-confessed bootlicker has thrown his hat in the ring. He joined the race late and seems to be trying all tricks in the book to catch up and even surpass other contenders. If Batswana were people who take leadership seriously, the mere fact Masisi has declared himself a bootlicker would be enough to disqualify him from the race.
I mean, who in their right senses would want to be led by a proud bootlicker. But Batswana being such a nation that I will never get to understand, they voted a bootlicker to represent them in parliament. President Khama being a sucker for bootlickers roped him in to become his assistant. The situation was not helped by BDP members of parliament, who come across as closet bootlickers. They endorsed the self-confessed lelope to the vice presidency. I was in Maun over the weekend and was shocked to hear what Masisi apparently told BDP members in that region.
In asking for their votes at the July congress, Masisi is alleged to have told the delegates that he deserves the nod over other candidates because he has never been implicated in any corruption scandal and that he is happily married. To those who are ignorant of the BDP constitution, he is reported to have lied to them that by virtue of his position as vice president, the constitution of the party dictates that he becomes the party chairman. I feel sorry for those who are standing against Masisi.
As if abusing State resources to gain unfair advantage over other contenders, Masisi seems to be also engaging in mudslinging, character assassination and untruths. One can only hope everything that is being said about Masisi’s campaign tactics is devoid of any the truth because if what we hear from the BDP corridors hold any water, it is then about time one bold contender stood up and asked Masisi “Awo Rrra, le go swaba ga o swabe?” The BDP Secretary General told the media that the party is going to be strict and even take action against central committee candidates who embark of dirty campaign.
Tarnishing the image of other candidates is one of the sins that the Secretary General put across as a ‘thou shall not’. Masisi may argue that in his dirty campaigns he never mentions any person by name but if indeed he goes around telling people that he must be elected because he is cleaner, the innuendo is that other candidates are filthy. You see, that is the problem with candidates who have nothing of substance to sell to the voters. They end up dwelling on character assignation of opponents without offering their strengths. People who have empty credentials employ untruths to gain mileage over their strong contenders. Like I mentioned before, let all this talk about Masisi being on the rampage with lies, turn out to be all lies.
I have been following campaigns of all the contenders for the BDP chairmanship. While the rest have come up with clear cut and well articulated visions for their leadership, Masisi’s campaign strategy remains comical. Ask me what Tebelelo Seretse, Biggie Butale or Ndelu Seretse promise to do for the BDP if given the mandate and I will be able to convey their message with ease. Ask me where Masisi intends to steer the BDP and all I will have is a collage of his selfies.
Instead of asking BDP members what they would want from him as chairman, Masisi is busy asking BDP members to send him photos that they took with him so he can splash them on social media. In his twisted ploy to fool the youth into believing he resonates well with their needs, Masisi continues to embarrass with his newly adopted fashion sense and street lingo that looks weird coming from an elderly person like Masisi, both in age and social status. At the rate he is going, soon Masisi will rock up at some event wearing sagging pants just to claim association with the youth. Just a few days back, President Khama, as was to be expected, delegated Masisi to the African Union summit in Sandton.
Never one to disappoint, Masisi grabbed the opportunity and embarked on photo-shoot opportunities with heads of states. Just as we were relying on the government official social media platforms to inform us on Masisi’s trip to the AU summit, the poor administrators of these government social media had no choice but to show us the only purpose that Masisi went to Sandton for; taking photos with African presidents. Nothing was reported about Masisi ever having made any contribution to the discussions at AU and that is simply because he never went there to participate in the discussions but was only too happy to pose for photos.
I am therefore inclined to ask BDP members if they are ready to be led by a bootlicker who gets star-struck on meeting other African leaders to the point where he goes and returns without having said a word but only comes back with a collection of photos. Truth be told, Masisi is an embarrassment and only if the BDP wants to give the world a dose of laughter will they opt Masisi when they are so spoilt for choice. Nya bagaetsho, eseng lelope!
