“I have asked my brother, Honourable Tshekedi Khama, to return to Botswana and meet with President Masisi or whoever the President may appoint to meet with him, in order to commence the process of reconciliation in ours and the nation’s interests.”
That is part of a statement that former president Ian Khama put out last week Monday. He explains this dramatic development by stating that he has been receiving a number of calls and messages from people informing him about remarks that President Mokgweetsi Masisi is said to have made recently: “He is quoted as saying that he hopes one day he and I can find common ground.” As a side note, scholars of the Masisi-Khama feud would have noted that this is the first time since 2018 that Khama has used proper nomenclature to refer Masisi and to have written the first letter of his name in the upper case. That will give the nation, SADC and the rest of the world conscious hope that Khama is finally packing the peace pipe with Boxer tobacco and will take a few deep puffs before passing the pipe to Masisi.
However, there is something that is suspect about what Khama said – that Tshekedi will mediate peace talks between him and Masisi. Mediators are generally neutral parties and there is no way that Tshekedi, who himself has unresolved legal issues with Masisi’s government – can be seen as neutral. The fact of the matter is that Tshekedi’s return to Botswana has nothing to do with reconciling Khama and Masisi and everything to do with the Standing Orders, the set of rules that govern the conduct of parliamentary business. This is actually something that Sunday Standard wrote about in its April 10, 2022 edition. The article was headlined “Tshekedi has until February 2023 to resume duty as MP” and its hat read: “An overly permissive provision in the standing orders allows the legislator to spend up to 10 months without attending parliament or attending to the needs of constituents in Serowe.” The introduction read as follows: “Tshekedi Khama can absent himself from parliament until February next year and won’t suffer any consequences. However, if he doesn’t attend next year budget session, he will definitely be out of a job as Serowe North MP.” Botswana Patriotic Front sources confirm that Tshekedi is indeed returning to prevent losing his parliamentary seat.
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