I am known to be an ardent critic of the Khama Brothers and especially the most senior of them. A man I served as a staff officer during our time at BDF while he served as commander. There is an interesting common denominator for the brothers.
The number of responses I received regarding my immediate past article has been amazingly high. But most people are more interested in the aspect of Khama being the motorcyclist. Not only did I field questions but equally some people much older than I am gave me some insights about the past lifestyle of the brothers.
All the three brothers; Ian, Tshekedi Stanford and Anthony are all riders. Even though I grew up often seeing them riding around the streets of Gaborone, for two decades now I have not seen anyone of them on the road with these graceful machines.
I first became acquainted with the Khama Brothers in their riding lifestyle while I served as a petrol attendant at the Maruapula Shell Filling Station in 1983. While I was awaiting my JC examination results, I sold my labour to this fuel facility.
This was just a few years after the death of their father and many of us still treated them as members of the first family. They used to patronise this service station which has now been rebranded as Caltex. Anyway, I have since learnt that the difference is the same with these energy cartels.
As a young man I was particularly interested in these fast machines. Theirs were not just fast, they were equally powerful. They had these blue Honda bikes that looked like small cars. I always preferred serving them because of my bewilderment with motorbikes.
After thirty-nine years since this happened, I vividly can remember everything in great detail but I do not recall if there was ever any tip in any of those frequent transactions. They were residents of Maruapula suburb on the Tshaba Ntsa (beware of the dog) side. This at the time was the most affluent piece of real estate in Botswana.
The history of the Khama Brothers with the motorbikes actually starts in their school days. While Ian Khama was attending boarding school in Rhodesia, he was associated with serious escapades on the back of a motor bike especially on weekends. The young fellow was well known in the capital city of Salisbury.
Ian was the stuntman of the city. I have seen him doing stunts at Khawa and also at Makgadikgadi Epic. For those young fellows who are always trying to outperform him at these events, they just have to know that the man has been at it for the last five and a half decades.
The senior most of the Khama Brothers owned a big blue three wheeler. This was by far the most advanced of the machines of similar nature in Gaborone. But Ian was not seen as frequently as his younger brothers because of his new military career.
For the twin brothers, it all started at Maruapula School with their little scooter. They were always riding together to school. And guess who was always at the controls; Tshekedi Stanford. He is the more dominant of the twins. However, he is the most sociable of the Khama Brothers.
Of the three brothers, Tshekedi Stanford is the one who rides faster; if he still does. But one day tragedy struck. One evening he met a very bad accident right in front of the Holiday Inn; a hotel which later transformed to Gaborone Sun and now Avani Hotel.
From the University of Botswana roundabout to the hotel, the young fellow was at full throttle. An unsuspecting motorist was coming the opposite direction and wanted to make a turn to the right. Ironically the driver was attempting to enter Phuti road, Tshekedi’s totem. May be this is the omen that saved him, but I turn to think it was providence.
The motorist didn’t know what hit him more so that this occurred at last light. The motorcyclist was badly injured and was rushed to Princes Marina Hospital. These were the days when Botswana was like a communist country. We all went to the same hospitals.
Tshekedi’s right leg was terribly injured and the young lad was in such excruciating pain. The injury was so bad that his father ordered a orthopaedic specialist from Johannesburg on the same night to come and attend to Tshekedi. This quick and prompt response came through the connections of Philip Steinkamp, the permanent secretary to the president who was well connected in the whole of South Africa.
On that night, the patient was flown out of the country in the surgeon’s private small plane and immediately the job started when they reached Johannesburg Hospital. The young fellow spent months in hospital until he came limping on a pair of crutches.
It seems this was the ultimate sacrifice paid for the propitiation of establishing this subculture in Botswana. To this day, motorcycling is still a popular past time activity. For others, they have graduated to quadbikes.
Tshekedi still goes by a little limp on the injured leg and this is as a result of this near fatal accident.
I became one of the followers of the Khama subculture when I bought myself a 100cc Honda bike back in 1986 after completing my Cambridge exams. But I was way below power when compared to the 500cc engines held by the Khama Brothers. Many soldiers took the motorbike as their choice of transport.
Regardless of the danger on our roads, there will always be daredevils who continue to ride irrespective of the looming danger. This could actually bring answers to our traffic congestion problems as it is the case in places like Brazil and almost all parts of Asia.
At least this weekend we are dealing with the Khama Brothers not under anything perceived negative. My readers have walked me away from the usual controversy associated with this former first family of Botswana.
