Recently we have seen a letter circulating on social media signed off by former President Khama with his outstanding signature from our days back at BDF while I served as his staff officer. Anything signed off by him raised curiosity because it carried weight and his signature was sacred and exclusive to signing off promotions.
This was a man wielding so much power at the stroke of his signature. The general retired from the military and went straight into the political arena where he immediately became the vice president of the country. Soon he became president of the land as provided by the constitution.
For the time he was active in politics, I do not remember reading anything with his appended signature. It is my deduction that his signature at that stage was only preserved for signing off parliament bills into law. The man exercised great restrain in this area.
But something sinister has been performed by this sacred signature when the man is now supposed to be into his final retirement. Khama wrote a letter to the president of South Africa appending his signature. As far as I am concerned, the man did not only violate himself, he did his country as well because he used the seal of government or national logo as it appeared on the letter.
Shockingly, a whole former president has written a letter to a president of another state asking for our country to be placed under sanctions. If I may ask those close to the man; what happened to his patriotism that he preached from the roof tops when he was head of state?
Some people and especially my colleagues in the opposition have said as citizens we need to distance ourselves from the wrestling match between the current president and his immediate predecessor because clearly there is something that they are at a tussle for and unknown to the public.
Regardless of what the two might be contending for, clearly Khama has now crossed the redline and I call on parliament to act and reign in on him. Why parliament out of all government institutions? It is parliament that gives and takes from any serving or former president.
Khama must be made to understand that he no longer holds any office and therefore the use of the government seal or logo is for the staff provided to serve him. He now remains as a private citizen just like me. The provision of those facilities is meant for his staff to serve him better on behalf of government.
It is parliament that needs to make the man aware that he is no longer holding any position in government and being former president is not an office bearing post. He is simply not an office bearer. Like someone has said, holding the tittle of former president is not a job, the tittle is simply in reference to the job he used to hold.
The use of government seals and logos and doing it against the interests of the same government is a serious violation on the state. This is why parliament is the responsible body in dealing with this matter as they were responsible for doing everything possible to make him comfortable in his retirement.
It is not the Office of the President to deal with this matter as the office is already conflicted. The fact that the attacks by Khama are aimed at the current president, it is now parliament that can adjudicate on this matter. Recently the president spoke in public about their antagonism and his statement was loaded when he mentioned that his immediate predecessor has made it clear that he will not rest until he has avenged.
Parliament has to act and protect the president and the constitution. It is these two institutions that are at stake and if anything worse happens beyond this point, the public will hold parliament responsible.
We cannot have a former general who pledges vengeance on the sitting president and we all remain paralysed and looking like helpless spectators on the touchlines of this sport. The public needs to raise their concerns through their legislative representatives and as a responsible citizens, I am doing exactly that through this opinion piece.
By asking another state to sanction Botswana is a serious violation and parliament must act swiftly against this action. In fact the letter penned by Khama is seditious in nature and the man needs to be charged as such.
Reading through this letter, it becomes very clear that Khama still has this unquenchable thirst for power and if left unchecked, this could slide the country into the abyss of civil insurrection. I say this because for a long time, his successor and government at large have chosen to ignore his tantrums but the character has remained on stage playing alone.
Khama has presented himself as a threat to the president and law and order in this country. It is his public pledge to never rest until he sees his predecessor down and out that should be presented before parliament as facts of the case.
For a long time government has ignored this man in his troublemaking mission and for some time I agreed with their position because their silence rendered the man irrelevant. But we can no longer afford to be violated in this manner anymore.
Parliament should suspend most of his entitlements. Khama is clearly communicating to all of us that he does not deserve what has been rendered him for his retirement. He must be stripped of all the luxuries accorded him by the same parliament.
With these actions, Khama is clearly indicating that he is into running a parallel government. This is something we should not condone as citizens and government of Botswana. We therefore look forward to action by parliament.
My anxieties are around the reply to be tendered by the Office of the Presidency in South Africa. Because Khama has turned this into a public specticle, we expect to soon read the reply from President Ramaphosa. But they must be at pains in consideration of the letter.
