We should revolt against the egos of our political leaders

When it comes to the matter of the legendary Masisi-Khama feud, very few have chosen the discomfort of fence-sitting. It is either one is on the side of the current president and his administration, or they are with the former president and his political cheerleaders. Even among the prominent figures of the society, we have those who have chosen to malign one side and align with the other. One can of course point to a very few individuals who, like Joe-Brown, have chosen to watch unattached as things unfold, and once in a while throw in an opinion on the fair and foul deeds sponsored from either camp.

One such figure is Kgosi. No, not that former spy chief already deemed to be associated with the Khama camp – I am referring to that Mahalapye native renowned for his incessant facebook posts on the state of our sorry society. Haters label him haughty and conceited, admirers call him informative and thought-provoking. It does not matter what you think of him, the celebrity lawyer does not take sides - he just hurts those on the side he does not take whenever he has to throw in his two-thebe opinion on their often ill-advised activities and utterings. And boy do they not rain insults on him whenever he does that! And you see, that is the problem with BW politics , politicians and their political stoogies – you become an enemy of one camp when you say something that does not flatter their egos. You are only good when you say something that pleases them. It is for this reason most of us the neutrals, have been bashed from both sides. No camp sees you as their ally, and it is not just about the Masisi-Khama feud, but even about the ruling party-opposition differences, as well as the Boko-Saleshando standoff. We the neutrals always throw in our opinions at a huge risk of being told things we did not know about ourselves and even our parents. Heela – re rogwa ke batho e be ba latlhele batsadi mo teng. Such intolerance of divergence by our political know-alls! O utlwa gotwe owai, o rekilwe; owai, o ja madi a ga Moti; owai, ke modomkrag; owai, o jeswa di tendera! The week I spoke my mind on the reported meddling of Sisiboy in the Balete land case, I was grilled and told our establishment is known to be antigovernment and a smear-campaign tool used by the opposition against Masisi and BDP. The following week when I called on Khama to man up and be the illustrious soldier we know him to be by coming to prove his innocence against the State, I was severely bruised and abused verbally gotwe Masisi o nthoma boloi, with someone even writing gore ‘go bua sehema fela sa waste of sperm.’ I tell you it is not easy being a neutral and trying to say your own mind on political issues of this country. I recall too when I expressed disappointment in the ego fights between the UDC president Boko and his deputy Saleshando, showing how their selfish inclinations were the reason regime change in Botswana will remain a pie in the sky, I was insulted and labelled modongwana who should learn to shut the hell up and use the one mouth I have for just eating the Domi breadcrumbs thrown at my feet! As it is, there is comfort in taking sides because at least your attackers will be fewer and you may have defenders. I have seen them insult the Mahalapye native too – from both sides depending on which side was hurt by his opinion. One moment he is Modomi, in two seconds he is UDC. The good thing with him is that he does not back down – call him the pitbull of facebook – if anything, he would add even more salt to their bruised feelings until they choose the cowardly route of shutting the hell up. What is important with him and the few of us is that he does not take sides – he says what he says the way he sees it irrespective of which camp gets hurt in the process. It is for this reason he has as good a number of admirers as he has the number of haters. But then again, he cannot be bothered – continue to hate him and see if he cares! It is a pity that for fear of this barrage of profanities from all angles, the more docile neutrals have decided to choose the comfort of hibernation.

Yet it is their opinions we need the most - the intelligentsia who are usually fair-minded and from whom the uninitiated could learn a lot. Social media now remains flooded with individuals whose opinion we already know even before we ask for it. Forget about their level of education or their professional backgrounds – they have taken sides; baa rogana and they do not care how damaging their pronounced alignment can be to their careers and reputations. Lawyers, drivers, teachers, journalists, doctors, political scientists, social workers – it is either they are with this one or that one. It is sad when you see even the varsity Doctors and professors, from whom we expect expert and unbiased opinions, also taking sides and doing very little to hide it. There is one local university ‘political analyst’ I often see quoted by some media houses on his take regarding political activities of the country. Aaah, that chap is something else! Looking at his surname, you would expect something Godly and analytical to come out of his mouth. I have never known an analyst at that level to be so vile and full of hatred for another human being. You can actually read anger and bitterness in his analysis whenever he has to make comments about this one politician, and predictably, he will say all the beautiful things in the world about the other politicians in the opposite camp. Just when his name crops up in a newspaper sentence that begins with ‘A political analyst from the university …’ you already know what he is going to say, irrespective of all else. And he is not alone – even on his opposite camp, we have such varsity analysts whom we almost know will favour one politician over the other or others when it was an expert analysis sought from them. We are blatant like that nowadays. We are no longer guided by reason, but by who we love and who we hate. And it is this phenomenon that is not taking our country anywhere. The honest and neutral guys have been silenced – except the pitbull of facebook of course – and we are thus deprived of honest opinions on things that could help us shape the destiny our country into what we want. Imagine there are very intelligent professionals who violently defend the ineptitude of our ruling political leaders and government officials who failed to detect that there would be a drug shortage crisis in public hospitals so as to avert it; imagine there are very smart people with degrees and doctorates who take sides in the failure of leadership displayed by the opposition party presidents who had a very simple task of uniting people towards a single opposition party that would ensure this country becomes a better place for its citizens. People who should be calling for things to be done right; people who should come out and show political leaders that the ordinary masses are the bosses. Monna fela a le botlhale a ntse a re ‘Boko or nothing.’ Mosadi fela a bulegile tlhaloganyo a ntse a re ‘Ke eme tsiii, le Saleshando.’ Ka fa party yone e thubega! And then when we the neutrals decide to brave the storm to talk sense into people, we are attacked from both sides with all manner of verbal missiles. The country will burn because we have decided to take sides ka Masisi le Khama. Our allegiance to either party will leave us with no place to call home. Instead of calling the two men out and show them gore this country is not the inheritance of their homesteads, we are busy fuelling one side against the other. To what benefit to the self?

We have allowed ourselves to be controlled by the egos and selfishness of individuals whose real endgame is benefit to themselves and not us. We should revolt against anything that does not serve us any good. Revolt against the egos of Khama and Masisi for a better Botswana; the egos of Boko and Saleshando for a progressive UDC; the egos of Guma and Khama for a peaceful BPF; the sense of self-importance displayed by BNF and BCP; and all the other similar egos that are holding the masses at ransom. And that does not exclude our very own egos le go sala batho morago re sa ba tlhaloganye – otherwise re ya go swa fela re ntse re boka batho matshelo a bone a tsweletse while while