Sir Ketumile Masire immortalised in 2nd book

A new book on Botswana’s second President, Sir Ketumile Masire ( July 23, 1925 – June 22, 2017) has just hit the local bookstores. Known only as ‘Sir Ketumile Masire: Thus Spoke a Statesman’, it is a collection of poignant quotes that transcend a portion of the late charismatic Masire’s journey as President. Published posthumously, its authors are the award winning journalists – Mothusi Soloko and Thomas Nkhoma, the latter, a contributing editor. It covers Masire’s views on a wide range of subjects straddling governance, democracy, politics, development, media, education, youth, women and children among others.In an interview with The Midweek Sun this week, Nkhoma said what prompted them to write the book was a desire to tap into the “wisdom of a statesman” such as Sir Ketumile so that “his word is not buried with him after his departure from this side of the world”. He said the book was mainly inspired by Sir Seretse Khama’s quote that ‘a nation without a past is a lost nation, and a people without a past is a people without a soul’. “To many people this is as far as it goes, little do they know that this was a call for us as Batswana to tell our own stories from our own perspective. Why do we have to quote luminaries from other countries when we have our own that we can tap into for wisdom”?asked Nkhoma, a former editor of Kutlwano Magazine, and former sub editor of Daily News, now working for University of Botswana.“So this book is basically to celebrate our own people. To celebrate one of the founding fathers of this nation who no doubt had the gift of the garb, be it in Setswana or English. Many people enjoyed his speech but they are only in archives somewhere where not many will have access to them. “The book therefore will in a small way give a glimpse into the ideal world of Sir Ketumile Masire, the ideas he represented as well as the Botswana he envisaged and wanted to build relative to the reality that prevailed globally”, he said.The authors hope that through this book they can stimulate thought that will trigger national discourse around the ideals that Sir Ketumile Masire represented with the hope that such will “enrich our democracy and the political will to perpetuate what our founding fathers laid as a foundation of a Botswana then, now and the future”.The book’s target audience is basically every Motswana interested in the political history of Botswana but more especially political science, history or social science students and enthusiasts who are wont on tapping into philosophy as the anchor of their speak.Asked how the Masire family has responded to the book, Nkhoma said they have been very warm and welcoming. “We worked with Matshediso Masire who was so enthusiastic in helping us organise an official launch for the book but as you well know, Covid-19 disrupted everything. Otherwise it could have been launched most probably as part of commemorations of Sir Ketumile’s passing on. But most importantly, Sir Ketumile himself was so excited to have this book on the bookshelves. Unfortunately he passed on before we could finish working on it”.Nkhoma expressed their heartfelt desire to present a copy of the book to President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi because they believe it is such an important piece of work that “those in leadership must tap into for timeless wisdom”.The book is available for sale at Airport Junction Exclusive Books and Botswana Book Centre in Main Mall. Mothusi Soloko is MISA Botswana Journalist of the Year 2016, a former news editor of Kutlwano Magazine and often anchors sports programmes on Btv. He has also worked as senior reporter for BOPAThomas Nkhoma is MISA Botswana Sports Journalist of the Year and First Runner- up Overall Journalist of the Year 2005. He is also a social commentator having written a number of articles for different newspapers in Botswana.