Well, since some morons like Sameosi Mokgethiwa (by the way I have since uncovered the true identity behind this pseudo) have taken to making direct vernacular translations from my language semantics, perhaps I should start by explaining the meaning behind that idiom (pissing in the wind) so it is not taken literally and labeled as uncouth. While we all know the literal effects of pissing in the wind, that idiom is just an implied comparison to doing something that is a complete waste of effort and time for which you can expect no results and may even backfire on you.
And that is exactly how our leaders run our government affairs here. They always punch above their weight. They always dwell on things that are of no benefit to the nation. They keep quiet where and when their voice would matter and are always quick to speak where and when silence seems golden. They get so overly excited like kids who have just discovered Ben 10 and in the process irritate everyone around them. You get cabinet ministers like Mokgweetsi Masisi who behave as excitedly as a teenage girl who got a kiss from Justin Bieber. You ask yourself, when will our leaders learn to chill? As though pissing off the citizenry with their endless gaffes is not enough, our leaders have taken to poking their noses in the affairs of sovereign states, much to the embarrassment of our nation when they are eventually proved wrong and forced to apologize for their rooftop diplomacy, with tails between their legs. Our leaders always want to make first impressions in the international arena yet they are too spineless to back, stand and stick by their pronouncements when they are outside our borders at regional and international summits.
Just recently they wasted our money on a delegation of 80 election observers in Zimbabwe and it now turns out those people were sent on an all expenses paid for vacation and they were not on national assignment. Clearly our leaders have gone bonkers if we are to take Minister Masisi’s statement seriously. Our government sent 80 people, led by former Vice President, Mompati Merafhe, to go and be the eyes and ears of our government and now the same government is distancing itself from the very people it had delegated to go and observe the elections in Zimbabwe. Look, I attended the government sanctioned press conference that was held at the government mass media complex. The invitation to this press conference came from government chief spokesperson, Jeff Ramsay, and he had clearly stated that Merafhe would be addressing the media on what his team, which represented government, found while in Zimbabwe.
In fact, at the press conference, I was tempted to ask why Botswana found it imperative to observe the Zimbabwe elections in the first place. I didn’t ask because I just thought, well, we harbor many Zimbabwean political refugees and as such it makes sense that we would take interest in that country’s elections, for the sake of the many Zimbabweans who cross over here seeking asylum. I had also wanted to ask why Merafhe was sent to observe the elections on behalf of our government but I didn’t because I just thought, well, ke ta bo ke tholela Merafhe to single him out of the other 79 people while I still don’t understand what criteria was used to select them. I just told myself that Merafhe was made to head the Botswana delegation because of the wisdom in him that comes from his long service in ‘these’ things. At the press conference, Merafhe was seated next to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Phandu Skelemani, and at no time did Skelemani tell us Merafhe’s statements were just his personal opinion and not reflective of the government’s stance on Zimbabwe. In fact, during his address, Merafhe emphasized that he was speaking on behalf of Botswana government. He kept saying ‘we’ to mean ‘we as Botswana government’.
Skelemani was present when Merafhe told us that what he was telling us is exactly what he reported back to President Khama after his return from Zimbabwe. Merafhe told us that he had told Khama that Zimbabwe elections were a circus that he has never witnessed in his entire life. How ironic it is, now that it had to be Masisi dismissing Merafhe on behalf of Skelemani, when Skelemani failed to distance himself and his government from Merafhe’s comments when they were seated together, next to each other at the table during the press conference. Our leaders are too cowardly to challenge dissenting views face to face. They waited for Merafhe to go back to Mahalapye and now they are claim they don’t know what he was on about. I bet wherever he is right now he is probably saying “they have used me to attack Mugabe and now they want to claim to be good boys in his books”. It’s shockingly cowardice that Khama and Skelemani decided to play a Pontius Pilate on poor Merafhe when they got to Malawi and had to face Robert Mugabe face to face. They are said to have apologized to Mugabe and even shockingly told him they were misled by MDC and some local institutions to declare the elections not fair. I mean come on now, why be so illogical when you had your own battalion of 80 people observing the elections on your behalf. Why lie that MDC misled you when you got the report from your own Mompati Merafhe? Look, I have said it before and I will say it again, Batswana are an easy nation to fool and abuse. I mean, how stupid does Masisi think we are to tell us that his government sent Merafhe to Zimbabwe but what Merafhe saw in Zimbabwe does not reflect what Government believes transpired in Zimbabwe? Kana what this therefore means is, Masisi is telling us that Merafhe is a liar.
Masisi is being disrespectful to Merafhe but then again, how do we expect this government to respect Merafhe who, despite being an elder, is much younger than the 96 year old Alfred Khumalo whom this government mercilessly and inhumanly kicked out of this country some two weeks back. This is the same people who always preach dignity and compassion yet they find no shame in bundling an ailing 96-year-old in the back of a van in what qualifies as xenophobia of immeasurable proportions. We are being led by confused souls who allow emotions to overpower logic and humility. They are always quick to prove that they possess all the power to do as they please and we now hear they have rounded up Nigerians and locked them in police holding cells without laying any charges against them. They apologized to Kenya. They apologized to Zimbabwe. They are going to apologize to Nigeria. These leaders really do suck!
