A couple of years ago when Dorcas Makgatho ran for a parliamentary seat for the first time, I wrote that she was a novice, with an outside chance of making it to parliament.
It turned out I was wrong.
She went on to beat Kesi Gobotswang who was highly touted.
I still firmly believe there was nothing sexist much less misogynist in what I wrote about Makgatho in that piece.
But she has never forgiven me for it, and every time we meet she reminds me of the “unfair” article and how hurtful it had been to her.
Often my only response is to grin and change the subject.
My hope is that I do not earn a similar wrath from Peggy Serame, who I must admit I have not known except meeting her at a press conference once or twice. And for that, this article will not pass judgement on her qualities, at least not just yet.
Miracles happen in politics, especially Botswana politics.
By now it should be apparent to political watchers that Peggy Serame is being hand-held for big things in politics.
Her meteoric rise from Permanent Secretary to Specially Elected Member of Parliament speaks volume.
Her deployment from the cabinet portfolio of trade to that of finance would not have gone unnoticed, not just because she was the first woman, which many including herself tried to make a meal out of, would not be lost to all of us.
Don’t be surprised when in a few years’ time you find yourself referring to her as Her Honour the Vice President , and shortly thereafter, Her Excellency the President – or something like that.
She is a woman on the rise. And all efforts are being done to put her through the paces.
In fact rising to become a vice president and even a president, is really the easier part – by and large.
As long as automatic succession is in place, ultimately everything in that route is down to one man – the incumbent president.
There is no set criterion. Seniority is especially not a consideration, much less ability.
It is the intention and the character of the appointing authority that matters.
We saw that with Festus Mogae and even more glaringly so with Mokgweetsi Masisi in recent times.
Cabinet ministers and some back-benches moved Heaven and Earth in their attempts to convince former president Ian Khama not to let Mokgweetsi Masisi succeed him.
At a cabinet retreat in Tlokweng, minister after minister lined up and excoriated Masisi to his face, warning Khama over and over again that Masisi lacked the skills and right temperament to become a Head of State.
Initially Khama privately promised some of them that he would drop Masisi – but ultimately reneged and supported his man.
The rest, as they say is history.
It’s difficult not to see that Serame is a rising star inside the Masisi government.
There are no known rules. And there are no processes.
Competitors can only watch with helpless despair in suppressed but anxious, nervous and dutiful silence.
She is a woman and she is from the south – the region that has given Masisi the power while the north, except for a handful constituencies was shared between the opposition parties.
It is irrefutable that Serame’s celebrity status inside the ruling BDP is growing. And she is relishing every moment of it in the full knowledge that bigger things are yet to come her way in politics.
As Minister of Finance, she is a defacto first among equals in cabinet.
But she still has to prove that she is a politician and not some favoured technocrat.
She still has a lot to do in learning the ropes.
More importantly she is still to reveal her true economic convictions.
The strong economic headwinds give her a big opportunity to shine.
Yet she has not shown her hand in response to the worsening cost of living crisis.
Of course she will need a strong overarching agenda from a government that has stayed deliberately vague and also fluid.
Ultimately all those will in the end matter little because she has the backing of the man that matters – the state president.
At party level because Mpho Balopi – perhaps by far the biggest pretender hence, has now been literally shunted out, for Serame its now one hurdle down, without even firing a single bullet of her own.
Indeed the gods are smiling at her.
She is already making her presence felt around the Barolong areas.
The Goodhope-Mabule constituency, currently held by Eric Molale appears to be one constituency she has chosen.
And she has to win it if she is to become a vice president.
So far as we can tell, she will have to go past a crowded team of aspirants that has in it Fankie Motsaathebe, a BDP veteran who in the past has had to make way for a string of colleagues who went on to become Members of parliament.
But still a lot of ground is being prepared for Ms Serame.
It’s clear that president Mokgweetsi Masisi does not want to kick the can too far down the road.
He is not leaving anything to chance.
All likelihood is that Goodhope-Mabule will be divided into two constituencies in line with a recent decision by our docile parliament to increase constituencies even before a Delimitation Commission could do its work.
When that happens Ms Serame’s further ascendance will get a short in the arm with a more rural part of the two which will be easier for her to win with little headache from opposition – potentially.
Masisi is essentially a sentimental person. He likes to be seen to be doing things differently.
More to the point he just enjoys being seen to be a first person to do something – as when he appointed a Chief of Staff.
If he appoints a woman vice president that would be a big deal for him. It’s much more important to him that he will go into history as a first president in Botswana to do that.
At least for now, and unless things change dramatically, Peggy Serame is the woman to watch.
