The candidates have been revealed. The date has been set and the campaign is on full throttle. In the coming weeks leading to the general elections, I will be deliberately endorsing some of the candidates. I will also advice on why some of them don’t deserve to be sent to parliament and council. It’s not my fault that some will feel de-campaigned in the process. I will only endorse those that I view credible enough for political office. Besides, in politics many are called and few are chosen. I’m watching the candidates closely as they make all sorts of promises to the electorates. They are doing everything and anything to win our vote.
Nxu stru! Some of them are going to lose their wives in October after they lose in the election. And I mean it. I see some of these politicians’ extravagant campaigns and I know for sure at some point their spouses must have whispered to them, “honey are you sure this is worth wasting our family resources on?” You just need to see how some of these guys spend so much money on their campaigns and you’ll admit that no sane wife can allow her husband to splash so much money on an unpredictable project such as politics. Politicians are spoiling constituents rotten. Freebies are falling like manna from heaven.
Choir girls are having a good time, all thanks to the candidates. And it’s not surprising that it is mostly those with no political substance that have taken to using money as bait for votes. Botswana is littered, literally, with portraits of all sorts of people; the young, the old, the beautiful and the ugly. Everyone wants to be voted into office. This time my focus is on Maun. Maun West constituency, to be precise. And perhaps I should declare, this is where I call home. I come from a ward called Mabudutsana in Maun West. This constituency has pitted Batawana Paramount Chief and UDC parliamentary candidate Tawana Moremi against two other gentlemen from two other parties, which are the BDP and BCP. Excuse my ignorance but honestly I always forget their first names, suffice to know they are Mbulawa for the BDP and Lubinda for the BCP. It didn’t take me long to decide on who, among the three candidates, deserves to represent my constituency in parliament. I will not beat about the bush.
First and foremost, a majority of Batswana are traditionalists and still hold bogosi in high regard. Tawana should therefore get an automatic nod from these people, by virtue of his royal status. The people of Maun must show their respect for their Kgosi and vote for him. I know some people will say I’m not making any sense to suggest that Tawana should be voted on the basis of his royalty. My argument is that, I do not even have to make any sense on that one. Our sensitivity to royalty is sensible enough to attract such endorsement. And Tawana should not even feel bad or ashamed to tell the people of Maun that he deserves to represent them because he is their chief. I mean, if other paramount chiefs can go around bragging about their chieftaincy and ordering their subjects to submit to them, why shouldn’t our chief enjoy the same indulgence?
It must be an insult for many people in Maun to be asked to choose between their Chief and his subjects. I’m not a traditionalist nor do I believe chiefs are born with any special brains but when it comes to Tawana, I dish out my approval without any hesitation. I do so because Tawana has proved that his worth is more than just the luck of being born into royalty. Everyone in Maun knows that Tawana doesn’t go around carrying his royal status on his shoulders. You will have to be told, for you to even know he is a paramount chief, unlike some people we know who never miss an opportunity to remind people of their royalty. Tawana has over the years proved his loyalty and love for his people. He has chosen not to steal from his people and instead fights to protect that which belongs to his people. You just need to strike a conversation with Tawana for you to realize how passionate he is about his people and land. For many years now, Tawana has been relentlessly fighting for his people to benefit from the abundant tourism in the Ngamiland, which our government is so tenaciously handing into the hands of a select few, many of whom are only interested in the profit derived from therein, without giving a hoot about the people of Ngamiland. Whenever he addresses the people of Maun, Tawana never makes outrageous promises.
He never throws money at problems like some people do. It is also disheartening to realize that our people are easily tricked by these people who come running with briefcases full of cash, on the eve of elections, only for them to disappear after being voted into office. Right now one of the candidates pitted against Tawana is splashing money all over the place, sponsoring even laughable projects which, clearly, will not be sustained beyond October. This is the same guy who owns businesses that were questionably acquired and he wants us to trust him to represent our interests at parliament. No way. We are fine with Tawana.
sonny@the telegraph.co.bw Twitter:@kuvuki
