Sometime this year, a regular reader of the Sunday Standard newspaper, asked if I could entertain the thought of one day writing a piece about Dr Kenneth Koma whom he said seemed to have been forgotten by everybody including the party that he helped found, the BNF. I remained non-committal although acknowledging quietly that it was something worth trying. The man suggested that anything that could reflect how one knew Dr. Koma would be sufficient.
I have since decided that the request was in the public interest and here we go. I had known Dr Kenneth Koma at a distance until in1979 when I was transferred to Mahalapye. He was well-known throughout the country and had a very large following. Many admired his philosophy. He was loved and feared especially by minority regimes which surrounded the Republic of Botswana. He was banned from entering apartheid South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and South West Africa (Namibia) apparently because of his association with the eastern bloc. But he feared no evil.
I was introduced to him by a member of Bangwato royal called Mmolotsi Sekgoma in the streets of Mahalapye when he was driving me around the village on a familiarization outing. Mmolotsi Sekgoma was the elder brother of Mme Mma Lesang Magang. He was an influential figure in the Bangwato royals as well as among many high profile people in Mahalapye such as Dr Koma himself, Theo Tamocha and a man called Godorn Dhlale. I am not sure if he was a Botswana citizen but his accent was more of a South African. Mmolotsi Sekgoma had told him of my association with Kgosi Linchwe and that made Koma more accessible to me within a short space of time.
After getting acquainted to him, Dr Koma started making some visits to my work place to give me story ideas about Mahalapye and its people. He was involved at Mahalapye Secondary School. He liked telling real short stories about his experiences. Unlike Mareledi Giddie he avoided staying too long with us in the office. There were stories going around the village that the Special Branch were interested in him and that wherever he was, they could also be in the vicinity following him to see what he was up to. Furthermore, there were stories also that anybody seen in his company had a file being opened about them by the Special Branch.
One of the interesting stories he related to me the other day was an incident which occurred to him while travelling by train from Gaborone to Mahalapye. He was travelling fourth class. While seated, he had a portfolio bag on his knees. As the journey continued, he took a nap. Somewhere between Mmamabula and Bonwapitse, an unidentified man snatched the back from his knees and fled. Eyewitnesses could not say who the snatcher was except describing the colour of his shirt. As if he was not bordered, Koma did not attempt to go and look for the person. He did not even report to the police upon arrival at Mahalapye. He concluded that whoever stole the bag, must be a member of the security agents.
Three days later, he visited the offices of Special Branch to demand the return of the bag. He advised them not to give it to him on the spot explaining that the safest way of bringing the bag to him was at night under the cover of darkness. He said he had no dogs at home and they should just walk in and drop the bag by the door site for him to pick it up in the morning when he woke up. He told me that he had told the Special Branch officers that he decided to visit them because since they had been keeping the bag for three days, it was enough time for them to have made themselves copies of documents contained in the bag even if their photocopier was out of order.
That was Kenneth Koma. He had a unique way of doing things. Who else would have done that? He would appear cool even in an explosive situation. He did not wait for the officers he had been addressing to respond. In fact, he was not interested to hear anything from them. All he wanted was to deliver the message. After all, they were going to deny involvement. He left the offices while they were still formulating a response. After a week or so, the bag was found intact next to a dust bin at the local hospital. Even after becoming a Member of Parliament, he maintained his coolness during parliamentary debates. Even when he was provoked, he would not be aggressive. He entered parliament to represent Gaborone South Constituency when he was at his peak condition and he used his abilities effectively and impressively.
One day in Parliament, Goareng Mosinyi of Shoshong launched a scathing attack on him saying that he and Gaolese Koma made Kenneth Koma what he was and yet he failed to appreciate that. He called Kenneth Koma mosimanya yo (this young boy) who stayed aloof from them as if they did not care for him while he was still a school going boy. When it was time for him to take to the podium, Koma started by saying he would not engage Mosinyi on what he described as petty issues because “o ne a buwa ditlontlonkwane mme nna ga ke a tela ditlontlonkwane mo palamenteng”.
Speaking from their seats, several BDP MPs could be heard saying that Koma avoided responding to Moshinyi’s utterances because he had no answer to the charges the Shoshong MP had labeled against the man affectionately known as “KK”. They genuinely believed that Mosinyi had won the day. Some of them could be heard saying wa mo tshaba meaning that Koma was afraid of Mosinyi. By that time, Mosinyi had gone outside. The BDP contingent kept on challenging Koma to respond to what Mosinyi had said and Koma himself kept on asking BDP MPs if they seriously wanted him to respond. He then said, he would be talking “ditlontlokwane” if he were to stand up and remind the House that it was Mosinyi who was one day arrested and convicted for poaching 52 zebras. He was interrupted by a loud laughter from both ruling party and opposition MPs with the former admitting that his was a bombshell. They admitted that he had hit Mosinyi below the belt and asked him not to say more.
When the laughter subsided, Koma appealed to members not to tell Mosinyi what he had said about him saying “ne ke moseba”. However, what he was demanding of them was the opposite. He wanted them to tell Mosinyi what he had said about him.
The story of Goareng Mosinyi and the 52 zebras is real. It featured in the House of Chiefs in March 1978 after the same MP had attacked dikgosi in Parliament. According to the House of Chiefs Hansard of 1978, Kgosi LInchwe II deplored the behavior of Goareng Mosinyi in a motion he tabled in the House. The motion reads, “That this Honourable House deplores the unwarranted attacks on the Chiefs by the Honourable Mr Mosinyi, M.P. for Shoshong at the last Parliamentary meeting in March, 1978.” Goareng Mosinyi had attacked dikgosi accusing them of lack of discipline and also for several other things. The Hansard quotes Kgosi Linchwe having said that in his attack, Goareng Mosinyi presented himself as being perfect and representing the interest of Batswana, yet he did not “hesitate to take his gun, a .303 rifle NO. 141190E to go into the game reserve, protected habitant of animals, the wealth of Botswana and shoot 50 zebras illegally”. That case was heard by Chief Justice Aguda. It haunted Goareng Mosinyi for many years as his critics used it as a weapon against him. It was a self-inflicted injury.
If one was to compare the current opposition members in parliament with those opposition members of the time Kenneth Koma was opposition leader, one would reasonably conclude that none of the present is near both Koma, Leach Tlhomelang, Paul Rantao who once appealed to BDP leadership to urge their youths to respect Dr Koma and treat him like the president in-waiting. He said likewise, the BNF youth should respect President Masire and treat him like the leader of opposition in-waiting and Isaac Mabiletsa who is the only person to have represented Kgatleng East better than the rest. This excludes the current area MP, Mabuse Pule who is still new in parliament. The current opposition has good numbers to make noise by raising numerous points of clarifications, order and illusitation. During the days of Kenneth Koma as opposition leader, MPs never at any particular stage discussed their educational qualifications and how brilliant they were at university. The Speaker’s rulings were never undermined. Even the phrase, “imputing improper motive” was not regularly heard.
On the other hand, the ruling party also misses the caliber of the likes of Ponatshego Kedikilwe who Koma admitted was a highly intelligent “young man” who never raised irrelevant issues during debates, Festus Mogae who once “lectured” parliament on different economic policies including that of the BNF explaining their advantages and disadvantages when he was Minister of Finance and Development Planning and leader of the House, David Magang and of course Daniel Kwelagobe.
