WOMAN POWER
I can be President of this country, just give me money - Kgafela
Nono Kgafela-Mokoka of Botswana People’s Party (BPP) says the only thing standing between women and ascending to senior positions is money. There is absolutely nothing lacking from women, the country can even have a female president but the monster in the room remains financial support. “We have been trained, supported, guided but without money, nothing will change.
I am one of the women capable of becoming the country’s president. Not many men in politics come near me. I am fully capacitated,” Kgafela-Mokoka tells The Midweek Sun. She even feels that the numerous women training and empowerment programmes might somehow be contributing to women doubting themselves, hence the low participation of women in politics despite the efforts to boost their confidence. “Why do we feel that women need to be trained to lead? Who trains men? We have capable women amongst us. It is just that some think lowly about themselves because they are broke. Money gives confidence,” she said, adding that some of these organisations only use women and other targeted communities to secure sponsorships for self-enrichment. Kgafela-Mokoka advises that in order to see more women standing up and claiming power, there is a serious need to level the battlefield.
“It is no secret that men have money, money that women cannot match. Obviously, men do not take care of households, they never worry that there is no chair or cup in their homes so they are able to finance politics,” she said. As an aspiring BPP president, she is currently facing too much resentment. She wants to be elected president at their next elective congress in July this year.
“I am being resented, nobody wants to sponsor women. I need around P200 000 to transport delegates, where will I get it if I am just a mere lecturer like myself? “And if I, part of the working class, am crying, what about that woman sitting at home,” she wondered. Kgafela Mokoka added that the reason why the country is yet to see a female president is that no one is willing to admit that the focus is wrong. The support needed is money.
Botswana National Front (BNF) Stalwart Patrick Kgoadi said some women feel they need men to prosper. When following the BNF women league elections that happened last month, he was left in awe when one presidential candidate announced that she is of the Duma Boko camp. Boko is BNF president. “Why should she say she is of camp Boko, what made her not trust that if she does not use the power and influence of Boko, she will not win? What would have happened if the other candidate equally said she is team Boko? After all they are of the same party,” asked Kgoadi.
At the said BNF women league congress which was held in Thamaga, observers, including candidates, complained that there was too much male interference even though the elections were for women.
This means that although there are calls to have women stand up and compete against men, their efforts run the risk of falling into jeopardy because some women still run to men who control how and when they should contest. Kgoadi noted that for the longest period, culture has forced women to be submissive. When they go to a Kgotla meeting, for instance, they have to bow and kneel or risk being deemed disrespectful. That is why many women still look up to men for protection because they are insecure, and not sure if they will weather the storm should it all come crashing down. On the other hand, men do not need a woman’s approval to do anything. Throughout his political career, it is only a few women who have shown that they have hearts made of steel. Such women can walk up into any office and claim power.
He is reminded of the likes of Venson Moitoi, a woman who dedicated her whole life to the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) but now, she is nowhere to be found. In fact, Moitoi has chosen to stay away from politics since 2019, after she got burnt really badly.
When reached this week by this publication, she simply said that she was not interested in talking about women and politics. Mma V as she is affectionately known, was and is still is the first person to ever challenge a sitting president at the party elections.
She suffered great backlash and there were calls for her to pull out of the race. Her nationality was even dug up for the first time ever. She was labelled a foreigner or a Monyasa.
This is a woman who had held various cabinet positions in the past but when he challenged president Mokgweetsi Masisi, it all went terribly wrong. So many turned against her, she was seen as causing instability in the BDP. There is also Kathleen Letshabo of BNF who in July 2005 made history when she became the party’s first woman vice president. She then went on to challenge Otsweletse Moupo for the presidency. It did not end well for her and she has equally disappeared from the political scene.
Kgoadi said Botswana is not yet ready to support such mighty women. There should be a solid plan of how women will be helped to achieve greatness and not criticised for challenging norms. He said that speaking alone does not help, but party structures need to know what they are doing and create an environment where women do not need to seek approval from men to go after power.
At BNF, they have set a 30 percent quota for women in the central committee but they have not been able to succeed in getting women to step up. Kgoadi said having quotas will not help put women in positions of power because, at the end of the day, they are not looking for just numbers but for capable leaders.
Political analyst Lesole Machacha said that there is nothing like men having more money. If anything, men spend more because they are the ones bringing money to their families. It does not mean that if men are not the ones buying food and other household items, they are not spending.
“There are women who have more money than men, why are they not in politics. There is no political will from women, they do not want to step up,” he said. He said there have been many powerful women in politics such as Joy Phumaphi and Dorcas Makgato who have been ministers before. But none of them has ever challenged for party chairperson because of reasons known to them. Machacha believes that without political will and women choosing to hide behind the shadows of men, all efforts made to make them step up will not work.
No laws made will work until women stop doubting themselves and know that they have it in them to lead.