It is very interesting when you see things which you read about at school practically unfolding into reality like a jigsaw puzzle. It is when this happens that you look back and cherish the value of learning, especially when it is something that is philosophical.
The pleasure derived from successfully putting together a jigsaw is a feeling one cannot describe.
One has to accomplish that to understand the feeling ÔÇô it’s just like life. If some specimen from another planet asked you what life is you would find yourself at wits end to give a definitive answer.
One just has to live to know what life is. In as much as we understood George Orwell’s Animal Farm to translate to the Russian revolution and many other revolutions that were to follow, little did we imagine that someday the same phenomenon would become a reality in our home country.
When I see the inequality that Mr. Orwell narrated unfold before me like I used to see a jigsaw falling into place back in the day, in as much as it is unpleasant when that reality knocks on your doorstep, thirty three years since reading Animal Farm, I cherish even more the wisdom, intellect and vision embedded unto me and those who have had the opportunity to read and understand the book by Mr. Orwell. The fact is it is now months since Hon Ramadeluka Seretse resigned as Minister and has not been replaced.
That is an indication of either of the following two.
Either Ministerial positions in the BDP are strictly reserved for the chosen few which would mean that like Mr. Orwell put it, all animals are equal but some are more equal than others. (All BDP’s are equal but some are more equal than others.).
Or the BDP has run out of capable minds to efficiently run Ramadeluka’s ministry.
I know that a lot of them are far from being amused by the status quo but want to appease some Master.
They pretend that ambition is not in their vocabulary.
But the question is for how long can you suppress your conscience? You can apply injustice to a billion people but I am still to come across a human being who can apply injustice to his conscience. Like the English proverb that says the beautiful are not yet born, we will die without seeing the doer’s of injustice to their consciences.(Suppressors of their own consciences are not yet born). In one of Mario Puzo’s bestsellers, The Godfather, there is a phrase that he often use’s to enquire on the integrity and will strength of a Man.
And his question to his emissaries would be, “does the Man have balls” and if the man is a sissy or a weakling the response would be he has no balls and this answer would then give the Boss an overall assessment of his nemesis. The Sicilians describe a real man as one who has balls. I look at some of our revered leaders and I at times ask myself how Mario Puzo would gauge and describe them.
I suspect he would say “They got no Balls”, meaning they are not Men enough. I know a lot of capable minds at the BDP who could ascend to that position and do an even better job than Ramadeluka.
For instance my honorable Mp Patrick Masimolole, Mmoloki Raletobana, Phillip Makgalemele for example. I mean who wouldn’t want an MP from his constituency to be Minister?
It obviously brings pride and honor to his/her constituents. But maybe they have been given the offer and have since declined. Anyway, it has been said in the media that the BDP has lost the cream of its brainwork to the BMD. Probably this is proof of that school of thought. If you think automatic succession has haunted the BDP previously then that is an understatement.
The biggest haunt is yet to come .
Ramadeluka’s position will not be filled, even if his case takes ten months because Ramadeluka is the blue eyed boy of President Khama and is being positioned to be the next vice President and the next President of this Country. I have never seen such an un-ambitious people like the hundreds of thousands men and women at the BDP. Deep inside their hearts agree do they agree that the next president should be chosen for them by one man?
Are they really genuine and fair to their consciences? Well that is President Khama’s personal succession plans not a BDP succession plan and the poor people have to tow that line in the name of dignity and discipline. Ag shame. I am no Ngombe or Schlemmer but Time will prove me wrong. I may not be an achiever in life but I definitely am ambitious like any normal human being. Where I have failed I must do all that I can to provide a platform for my children and Grandchildren to achieve. I very well know that I do not harbor certain ambitions. For instance even in my dreams I know I am not Presidential, Vice Presidential or even Ministerial material, But my Son or my Daughter may develop to have the potential to take up one of the three positions and I expect a fair trial and from a just Jury and not an individual to decide my Childs fate.
What I am saying is that if my child decides to stand for presidency it must be the people and not a person who decides my Childs fate. I want this fairness to prevail not only for my child but for every deserving Motswana child. But unfortunately as things stand, our children will have to rely on slogans and political songs to achieve that and not Democracy.
The system is too flawed for a democracy that some of us want to prevail. Hope depends on action taken now. If you are hoping that things will change whom exactly do you think is going to bring about that change for you.
Even God helps only those who help themselves. But it appears that Ma Domkrag are happy with it and my sympathy goes not to them but to their Children and Grand Children. Today you will approve of the system because it rewards you because you are able to chant slogans, say praise poems, sing praise songs do summersaults, or because you harbor no such ambition.
What about your child who is more capable but has a slim voice that cannot chant slogans, sing political songs and is incapable of doing summersaults at rallies like you?
What is the future of that brainy child as far as politics is concerned? Do you readily say to me that the Presidency, Vice Presidency or Ministerial positions do not befit any member of your family or are you foolish enough to believe that the next Presidents will keep on rewarding your family by appointing your family generation after generation?
Think, can this system ever provide your child with a fair opportunity to ascend to either of the aforementioned positions; my answer is a big NO. I am mentioning this because here we are witnessing a position of Minister solely reserved for a preferred individual with impunity and you believe that this system holds a future for your child.
Look here, injustice starts at the top and flows down like the Okavango River. This injustice in time will flow from the top to bottom. President Khama says people are power hungry.
Does he really believe that among Madomi he has people who have no interest in positions of power? Should that be the case then we will have to do a biological examination on them because certainly they will not be human? It is very much in the nature of human beings to want positions of power. If president Khama believes that his followers are obedient none position seeking subjects, he has a very volatile time bomb on his lap and when it explodes it will be worse than Hiroshima atomic Bomb.
I mean he just won’t know what has hit him.
