Goledzwa 2021!

We welcome 2021 and all that it has in store for us, because it was predestined to be. Some of us have come to live one day at a time.

Inasmuch as governments and corporate entities go to extreme pains to cobble Vision Statement s , which are essentially commitments of intent complete with timelines, it is a foolish man who pretends that these are assured.

Smart is the man who understands the full import of the counsel, ‘ Man proposes, God disposes’, for indeed all our plans are in vain if we lean upon our own understanding.

Man is a fallible being given to sinful nature, yet he exists in a divine creation. He must employ every ounce of his abilities during his trod on earth to find his mission and calling.

I tell you this is the essence of a life fully lived. It is a cause for which many die trying to find and very few seldom find it.

At the dawn of the 21st year of the end Millennium, let me thank my Creator for the life He’s abundantly given me and my family. I am live to the fact that many others – more fit than I – wished, but did not see this year.

Some succumbed to the marauding Corona Virus, whilst many others fell down on account of accidents and lifestyle diseases.

Whilst at that, let me also thank my friends and acquaintances who have made my life journey a memorable experience so far.

As the country grapples for answers to Covid-19, we must also extend our heartfelt gratitude to the University of Botswana for the many efforts they have so far made to lessen the burden on the society and government.

The prototyping and development of Mask, Ventilation Hood, Face Shield and Ventilator by the Faculty of Engineering and Technology (FET) has without doubt shown that our institutions of higher learning can be trusted to rise to challenges when the need arises.

Covid-19 has provided the impetus for UB to shine. Already, some 5, 600 units of the Face Shield have been sold. Vice Chancellor Prof. David Norris had every reason to smile from ear to ear when launching two more innovations - Ventilator and Auto cart in December.

Indeed not only does this demonstrate UB’s institutional capacity for research and innovation, but it is also in accord with the institution’s strategic direction of transforming the institution into an‘ entrepreneurial university’.

In the era of Covid-19, we call upon local businesses to stand up and be counted. They can do this by mass producing the UBpatented Ventilator.

The medical fraternity has assured us that this ventilator allows them to control and monitor key parameters by various inputs such as respiration rate, inspiratory- toexpiratory ratio, and tidal volume which are displayed on two displays (fixed LCD display and a dockable Android tablet/ mobile phone).

For once , l et us piggyback on our own by providing all the requisite support – financial and in kind – so that this ventilator penetrates the African market through the recently- launched African Continental Free Trade Area ( AcFTA) Agreement.

And yes, it would be nice too to mass produce the auto-cart, ‘Ramanek’ – the brainchild of Lebogang Daniel – who produced it as his final year design project in the Department of Industrial Design & Technology, Faculty of Engineering & Technology.

For this feat, Daniel, a teacher at Nanogang Community Junior Secondary School, has been awarded a scholarship to read for Masters Degree at University of Botswana!

It would be remiss of me to not mention world events that have grabbed our attention. American president Donald Trump has dug his own grave by inciting masses of racist whites to storm the Capitol building, in a veiled attempt to execute a coup de ‘tat.

Surely the contemplated impeachment proceedings will be overtaken by events since Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20th.

If, as it seems most likely, that Vice President Mike Pence will not invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump, the Democrats will gleefully vote to impeach him, but in my opinion, this would just be a symbolic gesture since Trump will already have left the White House anyway!

I am vouching my last Thebe on Robert Byagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine, to win the Ugandan elections slated for tomorrow against East Africa’s strongman Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986. How fitting would it be for Bobi, who was only born in February 12, 1982 to defeat the African relic!