To think when we grew up we believed very unbelievable stories, among them the myth that Ian Khama could turn himself into a fly and that he was an extra ordinary soldier in that it was said when enemies tried to shoot at him their guns would release water instead of bullets. How stupid of us to have bought into such nonsense. Perhaps it was because of that long held belief about Khama’s perceived magic that when he became president we all expected him to be an extra ordinary president. Well, he is, albeit in a negative way. I mean, when he assumed power, we all hoped Khama would unite this nation more than any one of his predecessors ever achieved. We all thought he will grow the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and make it the party of choice for the majority of our people. Khama has however only managed to divide this nation in that it was only after he became president that we no longer trust each other. It was only after he became president that we now have political enemies and not political opponents. It was Khama who made history by being the only BDP president who failed to contain party factions, leading to the BDP giving birth to another party, the BMD.
It was only during Khama’s leadership at the BDP that the party got less than half of the popular vote during the general elections. It is only under Khama that being a member of the BDP no longer carries any sense of pride. It is only now, during Khama’s presidency, that not a single national project got finished and delivered on time despite the fact when he was inaugurated he fooled us into believing delivery was his middle name. It is during Khama’s presidency that we don’t have water, electricity and cooking gas. It is only in these times of Khama that our education system has collapsed to its knees. It is in these times of Khama’s presidency that government has become the enemy of the public servants. Of all the four presidents we have had, it is only Khama who doesn’t attend international meetings to represent our interests as a country. I can spend the whole day here listing all the negatively extra ordinary things that Khama brought with him but let me rather cut to the chase. With so many negative things on his shoulders, I don’t get why the BDP still uses Khama as their chief campaigner when it is clear he no longer appeals to the electorates. It is interesting how the BDP doesn’t seem to realise Batswana have now realised they have been sold a dummy in Khama.
Batswana no longer view Khama as that perceived enigma who possessed the power to sway everyone into following the BDP. In fact, it appears Khama is the turn off element in the BDP. When they roped Khama into politics, the BDP had thought he was a rare gem. They believed just the mention of his name would hypnotise the electorates into voting for the BDP. How wrong and delusional they were. Because of the Godly status that they gave him, Khama came in and took over the party. He became God of the BDP. He came and changed all the long standing traditions of the BDP and the party members ululated because to them, the Messiah was just beginning his wonders. Shems! Khama even changed the original slogan of the BDP from “Domi ya rona le bana ba rona” to “Domi ke yame” and BDP followers bought into the scam, thinking they too own the party when the reality is that this meantonly Khama now owned the party. When they print their campaign material, they place a portrait of Khama appearing larger than that of the candidate; with the hope Khama’s magic charm would make the people vote for the candidates. What they don’t realise is that the magic has long expired. The voodoo that the BDP believes Khama possesses doesn’t exist. He is finished. In fact, nowadays you are better placed to win an election when Khama snubs your campaign because people do not want anything to do with him. They see him as the face of water rationing, power load-shedding, DISS terror, corruption and nepotism. How then do you take a person who is associated with all those bad things to be your chief campaigner? If anyone ever doubted that Khama no longer appeals to the people, the weekend bye election in Goodhope/Mabule is a clear case in point. Khama and his BDP people abused State resources, flying BDF aircrafts to political rallies, doling out blankets and all kinds of freebies but still, victory eluded them.
The people voted for the opposition which didn’t have money to buy their votes.The people have seen through Khama’s dirty tricks and they now know their votes are not worth the free food that they get only during the campaign period. The people of Goodhope/Mabule have sent a clear message to Khama. They cannot tolerate the arrogance that he displayed when he retained Molale as cabinet minister while he was standing for election at the bye-election. Molale might have lost the elections but the biggest loser here is President Khama because it was eveident he was the one who so much wanted Molale to be in parliament through the people’s endorsement. The people of Goodhope/Mabule must be applauded for sticking out the middle finger at the BDP and in turn thwarting whatever plans Khama had on Molale.
