And finally His Excellency President Ian Khama agreed to meet with the Leader of Opposition, Honourable Botsalo Ntuane. I met Ntuane on Friday and he confirmed that indeed he had paid a courtesy call on the President in the morning of that same Friday, 4th November. I must say this is a step in the right direction for our president and the country. This is indeed a welcome development and Khama deserves a pat on the back for finally having seen it proper to stop behaving like a sissy and agree to a chat with the leader of opposition.
I have always maintained it was very unfortunate that the president was refusing to give the leader of opposition an ear. I have always felt it was very wrong, in a so-called democratic setup like ours, for the ruling party leadership to sneer at opposition leaders and see them as not part of the team that runs the country. I just couldn’t understand why the ruling party never saw the integral part played by the opposition in the running of the Republic. It appeared, to me, that ever since Khama became president, there no longer existed opposition opponents in our politics.
Instead, Khama looked at his opponents as enemies. To him, if you could not be in his ruling party then you could never have any meaningful interaction with him. The whole thing looked so stupid, immature and irresponsible, honestly. It flew in the face our daily song, consultation. Look, Ntuane was appointed leader of opposition in August last year and fifteen months into his position, he had not even for once, sat on the OP couches.
We all know the differences between Khama and Ntuane. Their differences are purely political. Their differences border on difference of opinion and preferences. It seems to me, Khama allowed his political differences with Ntuane to take the better part of his emotions and in the end he took their differences to a personal level. He had come to a point where he must have been convinced Ntuane had problems with him as a person and not as a president. The rivalry had spiraled out of control I had never seen men not see eye to eye like that. Only men ‘fighting’ over a woman behave like that.
Ntuane tells me his meeting with the president was cordial and productive. I am happy that the two gentlemen finally met. You see, a lot of us may just take this meeting lightly. We can say, ok, Ntuane finally met Khama, so what? Look, Ntuane can do without Khama’s handshake. Even as he was persistent in his request to meet with Khama, it was not because he cherishes Khama’s handshake so much. No, he wanted to meet the president on behalf of the constituency that he represents. By constituency I am not talking about Gaborone West South. I am referring to the opposition collective. Infact in meeting with the president, Ntuane wanted to discuss with the president issues that affect Batswana as a nation and not as members of different political parties.
I still want to know who is responsible for President Khama’s itinerary. No, I think that’s the wrong guy to approach. The guy I’m looking for is the one who advices Khama on which meetings to honour and which people to interact with. This guy is seriously misleading Khama and I wish Khama could realize it. After their meeting on Friday, there is now a glimmer of hope. Khama as president surely must be having ‘handlers’ and advisors. At times I blame Khama’s blunders on the people who surround him. Something tells me they mislead him thinking that is the way to show their love and allegiance towards him. I have a feeling these people always tell Khama what they know will make Khama happy. They always tell him what he wants to hear. I doubt there are times when anyone of them gets up boldly to tell Khama, ‘Mr President I think here you are messing up.” I mean, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe often meets with his rival Morgan Tsvangirai. Yes, I know they have signed an agreement to work together but that is beside the point. Next door in South Africa Jacob Zuma always meets with Helen Zille despite their political differences and besides the fact that Zuma enjoys the company of women. In the US President Barack Obama made time to seat down with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith and they asked him questions. Obama is a celebrity in his own right and meeting the celebrity couple was not some populist stunt. As for his political opponents, Obama knows too well that he can never afford to refuse to meet with them because that would mark the end of his political career. He would be forced to resign from the presidency and calls for his resignation will come even from the people who voted him into power.
Ntuane did not give me the full report on his meeting with Khama. Let us bear in mind this was just a courtesy call. It was Ntuane checking in at the OP just say to say to Khama ‘Howzit buddy’. And when you meet a big and important buddy like the president, you surely cannot afford to miss the opportunity to voice out your views on national issues. I was therefore happy to learn from Ntuane that one of the issues that have been bothering me so much made it into their agenda. Ever since Khama’s administration decided to dismiss from work many of the public servants who took part in the industrial strike a few months ago, I have been receiving agonizing stories of the effects of the government’s decision.
I have had dismissed workers sending emails and pleading with me to apologize to Khama through my column on their behalf if that guaranteed their reinstatement. It pains me that Khama’s administration saw it fit to punish the striking workers so severely. Khama has gone on a crusade preaching poverty eradication and I just don’t understand why it is difficult for him to realize that by dismissing people from work, he is only escalating the statistics of poverty. By extension, Khama, in his bid to get back at the striking workers, is only punishing the innocent dependents of the sacked workers. These people have families to feed. These people are the breadwinners to those elderly folks in the villages whom Khama always claims to have their interests and welfare at heart. I’m glad to learn Khama has promised to do something about the issue. Real leaders are not vindictive towards their people. Real leaders do not allow emotions to dictate how they deal with people who rub them the wrong way.
I therefore wish to take this opportunity and thank President Khama for heeding Ntuane’s call for a meeting. We cannot afford to have the ruling government ‘de-recognize’ the opposition. Surely Khama can afford to refuse to meet with me and instead go show-off his tractor-driving skills in some village but his refusal should not be extended to important people like the leader of opposition. When it was reported that Ntuane was going to meet Khama, a lot of people phoned me and raised their suspicions over the meeting. Many people suspected that the meeting was a sign Ntuane could be on his way back into the BDP. I don’t understand what could have sparked such baseless speculations. All I care about is, the leader of opposition has met the president. For me all that is important is, the two guys realize the importance of working together as national leaders.
Infact I don’t even have a problem with Ntuane meeting Khama in private or in secret as media reports suggest. These guys should not see themselves as enemies. We should also not make them believe they are enemies. Ntuane can choose to meet Khama in private and discuss their social lives. I have no qualms with it. Khama can attend Ntuane’s wedding. I have no problem with it. My only problem is when now these guys cannot meet and discuss national issues. I look forward to more of this interaction between the two leaders because some of us share a lot in ideology with Ntuane and by meeting with Khama, Ntuane will share with Khama what most of us think should be the proper way to take our country forward. Well done Mr President, real men are never shy to forgive and forget and embrace divergent views from political opponents. Monna o dira jalo!
