A sixteen year old school-going girl of Sebina was impregnated by a politician, a councillor, Mr. Amon. The story exploded on Facebook through a munched alleged conversation between the councillor and the Assistant Minister of Education, Hon Fedelis Molao. The Assistant Minister contended that the entire conversation was fake ÔÇô a product of a creative mind. In effect he denied ever taking part in such an exchange with councillor Amon. Councillor Amon too distanced himself from the conversation. The politics began. On the BDP side The Save Molao Campaign went on full throttle. The opposition party machine stepped on The Get Molao Campaign. Nothing mattered. No! Amon was in the bag, the next casualty had to be Hon. Molao. Around the same time there was a national uproar against child abuse. It started as a small group of concerned people, but then crystalized into a movement which was to be identified by #IShallNotForget. The #IShallNotForget was a response to the claim in the munched dialogue that Batswana ba lebala motlhofo. The movement opened a Facebook page and called it Men and Women Against All Sexual Abuse of Children. Suddenly from across the country and the seas men and women, boys and girls posted photographs of themselves holding the #IShallNotForget placards. Teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, students, police officers, politicians, academics, musicians, actors, journalists, photographers, graphic designers and people of all professions came together to say “No to sexual abuse of children”. The Facebook page exploded to over thirty six thousand members. It provided a safe space for individuals to relate their experiences of abuse. Individuals, one after another came forward to relate the most heart wrenching tales of abuse by people who should have protected them: relatives, teachers, politicians and many others. It was cathartic. While the campaign remained unaligned to any political party, some on the BDP side were irritated by certain members of the #IShallNotForget group who were calling for the resignation of Assistant Minister Molao. Some even blamed the abuse on the BDP itself. There was a plethora of questions: Why hasn’t the BDP suspended councillor Amon? Isn’t this a perfect example that the BDP condones sexual abuse against children?
More evidence was brought to bear: “NATA MP is also a BDP candidate and already he is implicated in child rape…I find it a BDP thing now, in Ghanzi a BDP councillor is accused of child rape” The rhetoric became increasingly anti-BDP making BDP members who were part of the campaign against sexual abuse of children very uncomfortable. When an argument was advanced that “It is critical that the “#IShallNotForget” campaign is not hijacked into an anti-BDP campaign. True, Amon is BDP, but his engagement with a young girl isn’t. The campaign must stay bipartisan against child abuse because even in the opposition camp we are likely to find leaders who have a rather soiled history with young girls” such a call was shrugged off aggressively. The proponents of the partisan stance turned the whole thing on its head and contended that: “Partisan politics is a card always played by the ruling party whenever it can’t respond adequately to pressure. Civil movement becomes partisan when the ruling party classifies it that way. The so called anti BDP is an excuse meant to dilute pressure and it worked for a long time until it finally led to trade unions openly choosing sides.” The more the BDP was attacked, the more #IShallNotForget appeared as an opposition tool to demonise the BDP. The debaters persisted: “This issue cannot avoid to be political for a variety of reasons. Chiefly, the main actors are politicians on this specific Sebina case (BDP if you need a reminder). Also, and equally important, BDP as a ruling party needed to have done the right thing: take action. Sadly, it has opted for the route you are advocating, one where generalisation (i.e. that everybody is doing it) is allowed to pass as an answer to the current crisis. This thinking is an abdication of responsibility to care for girl child on the part of rulers and their ilk. #IShallNotForget cannot avoid to be political.” But there was a response to this line of arguing that: “the campaign against Child Abuse is such a noble cause that it needs to be redeemed from political “capture”. It must stay above party politics. It must bring us together across the political divide. This is because Child Abuse is perpetrated by individuals across party divide. Its victims are also children from families from all parties. Fa ngwana wa Modomi is abused by a BDP person, the parents should find the #IShallNotForget campaign as a welcoming home and not a hostile ground to their party. In the event that a UDC member is found out to have abused a child the movement must not feel compromised and awkward in dealing with such an individual since their cause is greater than party politics.”
The debate went on endlessly with very strange and twisted logic. For a while there was a lull. But it was just a lull before a storm. Then over the weekend the march came. The march triggered a storm of criticisms. Minister Unity Dow attended the much as a concerned citizen, a mother and the Minister of Education. Strangely her attendance was mocked and criticised. Why hasn’t she resigned? Why hasn’t she fired Molao? How can she march against herself? Cyber bullies came upon the organisers like a tonne of bricks. They accused them of being bought. One most impressive matter though is this: In the midst of all this criticism The #IShallNotForget leaders and organisers stayed on the message and made it clear that the campaign was against sexual abuse of children. Period. For this, they must be commended. For those who attempted to politicise this noble campaign, they must be reminded that child abusers are from all professions and all political persuasions, their victims are children of parents from all professions and all political persuasions. A movement against the sexual abuse of children must stay clear of party politics and be by persons from all political parties.
