In the past week, the market was caught somewhat by surprise when news came to the surface that Parks Tafa and Rizwan Desai of law firm Collins Newman & Co will be going separate ways.
The firm has for an odd forty years been considered an empire – an integral part of Botswana’s commercial establishment, starting with its co-founders, Peter Collins and David Newman ÔÇô two settler lawyers that made Botswana their home and went on to dominate the country’s legal circle before wrapping up their legal careers as judge at the High Court.
But it was under the firm’s second generation management of Parks Tafa and Rizwan Desai that Collins Newman& Co became the coolest law brand in the country, achieving real world class fame, influence, power and depending on who you talk to ÔÇô notoriety too for itself but also for its owners.
Tafa and Desai were for many not just business partners but soul mates.
They called the other “my brother.” Ambitious and self-driven, the two continued to rise as a host of other lawyers of their generation fell by the wayside.
But the men were total opposites. Where Tafa cultivated high profile publicity and craved public attention, Desai scorned the limelight and public glare that came with it, preferring to work his hand behind the scenes as a backroom operator, especially in boardrooms.
He is currently the Chairman of Barclays Bank Botswana.
But still the two complemented each other.
While Tafa worked at creating and preserving the firm’s name and presence among the public, Desai concentrated on doing the same at a commercial level ÔÇô far from public glare.
The result was a resounding success ÔÇô when it lasted.
Given the swaths of power and influence that Tafa and Desai have wielded over time, the duo’s looming separation is perhaps inevitably a huge public event.
“The partners are talking to one another. And when the time is right a public announcement will be made,” Desai told this newspaper recently. Everybody was stark. To many the partnership had often seemed like a match made in heaven.
While the separation was known to the partners, they had intended to do it seamlessly ÔÇô until news leaked to the media.
Less than a week, after the news broke out, Tafa announced his return to Collins Newman & Co.
His ill health had kept him away for some time.
It was an announcement made in a typical Tafa bravado that is often underlined by an undying love for publicity and fan fanfare.
“I have returned to work at Collins Newman & Co on a full-time basis, after nearly 9 months absence due to illness, recovering from back and spinal surgery,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
While his detractors are adamant that he is a prisoner of his past success, and that he has steadfastly refused to accept that the times have changed, Tafa will simply have none of it.
“Not being in the best health for a prolonged period is not a failure, and for this reason I have never felt defeated,” he said, clearly taking a swipe at naysayers, of which there is no shortage.
He thanked his family and friends for their prayers during his difficult time.
Rizwan Desai was among those few singled out for mention by name as were the wife, (Pedzani), daughter (Yao) and mother (Margaret).
“I could not have made it without you,” he concluded.
Towards the end, the statement is heavily laden with grace and gratitude – a far cry from the bare-knuckled street fighter that Tafa has become famous for.
Is this a sign of a changed and battle weary man who in the face of separating with a long time friend is willing to make peace and reconciliation with the world? That is a question that many will be grappling with.
But who really is Parks Tafa?
While many descriptions emerge about the man, there is not a single one that seems to suggest he is a Mr. Nice Guy.
A friend from their days at a University of Botswana law school however has a picture that is totally different from the Frankenstein image that the media and other adversaries in politics have come to depict of Tafa.
“Parks [Tafa] was my roommate for three years at university. I can tell you that his success is mainly a result of his hard work. Of course I am also aware that he was at the right place at the right time. But he is a f****g good lawyer,” said Shara Montsho.
Not only were Tafa and Montsho bosom buddies at university, the two went on to work at Collins Newman & Co after they graduated.
Montsho speaks of Tafa as highly ambitious and also self driven.
By Montsho’s account Tafa was easily among the top four students during their time at the law school. To prove that, he says Tafa was one of the four law students chosen to attend a moot court in Washington DC in the late 1980s.
As has traditionally been the practice, that group included cr├¿me-la-cr├¿me of that year’s final law class: Kenny Kapinga, Shara Montsho, Igobe Pia and of course Parks Tafa.
“When some of us were chasing girls as undergraduates he spent all his time reading books. I am aware that when we were at Collins Newman & Co some members of staff alleged that he was a bootlicker to the white guys that owned the firm at the time. I did not see that myself. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. All I can tell you is that the man has always been a hard worker.”
That hard work ethic and discipline did not miss the attention of the then President of Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masire who immediately drafted Tafa closer to him and started grooming the young lawyer as one of the ruling party’s inner but informal circle of advisors.
Since then, pulling strings often from behind the scenes is about all that Tafa has become known for.
He is often credited as one of the architects of the Masire-led constitutional reforms that ultimately came to be known as “automatic succession.”
Under those reforms it became mandatory for a sitting vice president to ascend in the event the president retired or died in office.
Masire likes to say he came up with the controversial reforms after helplessly watching the uncertainty that gripped the nation following the death of founding President Sir Seretse Khama in 1980.
When Masire left office, his successor, Festus Mogae inherited Tafa as part of the shoo-in informal advisory infrastructure ÔÇô a near seamless transition the kind of which Masire had long dreamed of.
In the meantime Tafa was at the same time busy building his name and empire at Collins Newman and Co.
His knack for survival became evident when Mogae retired and Ian Khama came in as President.
When Khama was Vice President, a huge public spat had erupted involving the government privatization agency, PEEPA. Khama was of the view that cabinet, and not the Board of Directors had the final say in the appointment of PEEPA Chief Executive.
Tafa was a member of that Board, and together with then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Serwalo Tumelo held that the Board was the appointing authority.
The two sides had a mighty falling out. While Khama ended up the winner it was clear the bridges had been burnt to ashes.
Yet when Khama ascended to the presidency, many were surprised to see Tafa emerge as one of the most influential inner-circle advisors to Khama that held no official title in both government and cabinet.
But in the face of Desai’s departure, Tafa will have to work out on how to fill the void that will be left by his old friend and business.
Even during the best of times, filling Desai’s boots will not be easy. And these are not the best of times.
By his own admission, Tafa’s health has not been at its best.
And detractors are saying the country’s politics are shifting.
Only time will tell.
