It was Pastor Martin Niemoller who said, “First they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out-Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out-Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me”.
This famous statement and provocative poem by Niemoller was directed at the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazi’s rise to power. He went on to direct the same message to the church for not concerning itself with politics at the time. The words of Niemoller rang a bell in my head as I was thinking about the plight of the Kalafatis family at the hands of the Botswana government and how our nation has remained indifferent to the barbaric and seemingly determined ‘cleansing’ of this family by the State. Batswana are such an amazing nation, in a way that attracts frowns and not smiles. The government of Botswana continues to persecute the Trade Unions and the nation is not speaking out, probably because they feel they have no reason to because they are not trade unionists. The government, through the president, continues to attack the media and Batswana are not saying anything, again because to them, it’s none of their business because they are not journalists.
The government seems to be on a mission to wipe out the Kalafatis family and yet again, Batswana are just silently watching. In fact some are smilingly watching. To them, what happens to the Kalafatis family should not be of any concern to anyone outside that family. The silly ones, like my friend Peloetletse who has made defending the government his hobby, even have the temerity to defend the brutal killings of the members of the Kalafatis family. It pains me that while the government refuses to give us reasons for the wipe-out of the Kalafatis family members, some morons in the public have no shame telling us this family is made up of criminals who deserve these judicial killings. What nauseates me even more is that all these puppets who ululate to these cold-blooded shootings cannot even attach a single criminal act to this family. Besides, and more importantly, the penal code of this country has no provision for the killing of wrongdoers. Criminals, of all sorts, are supposed to be arrested and tried at the courts of law.
Even murderers are afforded the right to fair trial at the courts of law and are not subjected to punishment by trigger-happy law enforcement officers. Le go swaba ba sa swabe. Like I mentioned, guns have no place in our penal code and that is why even when one is convicted of the heinous crime, murder, they are hanged by the neck and not shot at by security operatives in public as it is happening to the members of the Kalafatis family. We should be very worried as a nation. Every Motswana and resident of this country must be worried at what this government is doing to the Kalafatis family. The nation must have grave fears at these extra-judicial killings. The government is tormenting the Kalafatis family now and we will never know which family will become the next target for this axis of evil. A government which has no shame and is so heartless to kill innocent citizens with impunity should have all of us worried.
State operatives killed John Kalafatis in cold-blood in 2009 and to date, the nation has not been told of his crimes. Well, why should I even be mentioning the nation when the State found no reason to appraise the Kalafatis family on why they murdered their son? The then Vice President Merafhe even down played the killing of John and said it won’t hurt the reputation of our country. President Khama told journalists that he has never visited the Kalafatis family and that he has no intentions of doing so even in the future. This is the same guy who pardoned John’s killers within a few months of their conviction and reinstated them back to the barracks to continue working with the same guns that they used to mercilessly and stupidly kill John. Kalafatis Senior has since also died after sustaining fatal injuries when he was attacked by unknown assailants at his workshop. Looking at how State operatives seem hell bent of harming this family; it would not be farfetched or absurd to suspect they could be behind the attack on John and Costa father.
Now they have rained their bullets on Costa, the younger brother to the late John. It is only by God’s grace that he lived to tell the tale. It is very apparent that the Kalafatis is not being tormented because of any security threat to the nation but more evidently because of what they may know or may have done to some people in the echelons of power. I, for one, do not believe any person should be gunned down for whatever offence and as such I do not support the senseless shooting of the Kalafatis brothers. I believe that if there is anything unlawful they have done, they should be dragged before the courts of law like all other people. I wish the rest of Batswana could join me in condemning these shootings of otherwise innocent people because before you know it, your family members will be in the receiving end. To President Khama and his trigger-happy officers all I can do is to remind them of how leaders like Saddam Hussein and Gadhafi met their death when the people got fed up with their killings of innocent citizens who in most cases held personal or political views. One day someone in the Kalafatis family will become fed up and decide to do something about the war which has been taken to this family by the State.
One day one Motswana will become fed up of these extra-judicial killings and things may turn nasty. Let’s do away with the silence and let our leaders know that if at all they get turned on by these killings, the same does not go for us.
