Since independence in 1966, Botswana has been a united country with no tribal rivalries of any significance. The founders of this nation succeeded in building it. However, all is not well. The continued use and promotion of Setswana as the only official indigenous language at the exclusion of other indigenous languages as espoused in the constitution is a cause for concern. The other tribal groups who have been left in the peripheries just feign contentment for fear of being labeled tribalists.
When he took oath, the President of Botswana Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, advocated for a Motswana who will live a dignified life. That dignity can manifest itself in different facets and inevitably one of them is pride in one’s mother tongue (tribal language).
If one’s language is included in the school curricula, used in mass media he or she feels recognized. The exclusion of other indigenous languages makes those tribal groupings affected to feel like they are second rate citizens. That now creates a division of them and us. The recognized and the unrecognized. I doubt if that was the intention of the founders of this nation. Bo tate Seretse Khama did this probably for the sake of nation building at its fledgling stage. Now the nation is intact. Let us open up to other languages in our beautiful Botswana. Seretse Khama being a visionary would have by now started that process. In fact I feel it in my bone marrow that it was his grand plan.
Multiculturalism and multilingualism must be seen in practice in our country. It should not only be seen one day on Botswana Television during the President day holidays when different tribal groupings showcase their artistic talent. Our cultural diversity should be like different spices used to season a sumptuous meal or flowers of different colours in a garden which makes it very attractive. Ours should be a cosmopolitan society with all feeling the pride of being part of it. Presently it is however not the case ÔÇôit is all pretence.
Policy makers have to reflect on the sensitivity towards the cultural diversity of Botswana. In a democracy, People’s needs must be responded to. Indigenous tribes like Bakgalagadi, Bahereo, Bakalanga, Bayei etc would like their children to be taught in mother tongue especially at infancy. They would love to listen to the news read on their languages on radio or television. They would like their languages to be used on mass media.” We use language to transmit our culture”. (Verderber & Verderber 2002).
One wonders what happened to recommendations made on the Report on the national Commission on Education of 1993 and Government Paper number 2 of 1994. Two of the recommendations that vividly come to my mind are, “Introduction of local languages at all levels of Pre-school” and “Introduction of major languages following Setswana up to Standard 4 at Primary level”. This was definitely a step in the right direction. I call upon all legislators from all affected areas like for instance Kgalagadi, Okavango, Ngami, Bukalanga, Bobirwa to stand up for their electorates and follow up on these recommendations for implementation. Our legislators should come to the realization that in life there is need for perseverance for the realization of one’s goals. In life there are those people who give up easily and live under yoke to such an extent that everything ends up looking normal. Abnormal conditions prevail for a long time and end up looking normal, especially if no one questions them. We need the Mahatma Ghandis, Martin Luther King Jrs, Nelson Mandela’s of Botswana to stand up and challenge the status quo. Had the aforementioned men succumbed to the injustices prevailing during their life time and lived every day as it comes we wouldn’t be having a proud Indian nation, a black President in the USA and a Rainbow nation of South Africa.
My mother tongue Ikalanga and other indigenous languages are dying slowly on a daily basis. It is not surprising to hear the Chief (Headman) of a Bukalanga Village addressing his people in Ikalanga and referring to the grave yard as ‘Ku mabita’ instead of ‘ku zwikumbu’, ‘ku merapelo’ instead of ‘ku mitembezelo’ and yet common sense dictates that a chief be the cultural silo of his people. As for the children it is excruciatingly painful because even those whose parents are both Basubiya, Basarwa, Bakalanga etc communicate to each other and to their parents in Setswana or English. To them those are the only two ‘cool’ languages in Botswana. Some even get so embarrassed if one communicates to them in their mother tongue when in the presence of their peers. They would rather feel proud conversing in Zulu, Venda, Xhosa, Sotho or any South African language because they hear that on TV and radio and think those are ‘cool’ languages. They never get to hear their indigenous languages on mass media and that brain washes them to think it means they are not fashionable languages (out dated/archaic) only fit for the rural folk, especially the elderly.
Speak Seherero on radio and see what radiance emanates from a herero. Speak Ikalanga on television and see the dignity and pride that permeates from a Nkalanga. It shows that the current arrangement suppresses them. They have to parrot Setswana to be recognized as bonafide citizens of Botswana.
We have seen the Boers right next door in South Africa with their Bantu Education forcing black South Africans (kaffris) to learn Afrikaans as a core subject and trampling on their democratic right to learn their mother tongue. We were up in arms in support of our black African brothers condemning Apartheid South Africa especially the Nationalist Party and its racist policies and yet in our own sovereign state only one language is recognized. South Africa has now changed. It is now called a Rainbow nation with 11 official languages. We may even have to benchmark from them.
I am not calling for a revolution but rather for introspection nor am I pointing a finger at anyone but would like Batswana in general to, with sober minds, look critically at the status quo and come up with remedies to this cancer.
Anthony Wabuya Chebani
Nshakazhogwe
