‘Sisiboy’ charms Shoshong
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday February 6, 2023 06:00
At the pinnacle of his address, Masisi commonly known by a moniker ‘Sisiboy’ in political circles, seemingly ‘dribbled’ the villagers when he flavoured his address with a tone purely conciliatory in nature. At the outset of his address, he mentioned his consideration to smoke a peace pipe with his now sworn nemesis and predecessor former president Ian Khama known to the villagers.
For starters, Masisi fell out with Khama on the verge of the 2019 General Elections over various issues to the extent that the latter acrimoniously resigned from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and took part in the formation of the opposition Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) where he pioneered as the patron.
From colonial Botswana, around 1966, Shoshong, a known GammaNgwato area, was a loyal and a conservative BDP stronghold until things fell apart in 2019. For the BDP diehards in the Central District, the party has always been considered in the vernacular as “party-ya-ga- Seretse” or Sir Seretse Khama’s party. Seretse is the founding president of the ruling BDP and its government.
However, things dramatically changed during the 2019 polls when coalition parties under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) represented by Aubrey Lesaso, who was welcomed into the BDP at the Shoshong event over the weekend, tilted the scales.
Over the weekend, Masisi treaded carefully in Shoshong, the first GammaNgwato-based constituency where the party held a major political event. The Shoshong meet might have opened more opportunities for the BDP to penetrate the Central District, which seemed impenetrable post the 2019 General Election with the BPF and the UDC having cemented their positions after ousting the BDP from its traditional stronghold for over five decades.
Sometime last year, the BDP congregated in Serowe for the youth event, but the Shoshong event was of a high magnitude in comparison.
Those who thought the Khama bashing by Masisi would be escalated as it has been the norm, got a shock of their lives as the party leader seems to have changed tact and focused on building a united party.
Instead, he hailed the roles played by the former presidents at both the BDP and government including the challenges they encountered and how they dealt with them. He chose to ignore the known negatives and dwelt on the positives achieved by the past party leaders and the current. Through this particular address, Masisi might have struck the right cord. He literally charmed the villagers who had thought Khama’s name would remain a topical issue. As usual, Masisi used his rich Setswana and English to cool the temperatures and set a tone for good tidings in future.
Sir Seretse Khama
As the pioneering party leader and State president, Sir Seretse was the favourite as he took over the leadership of both the BDP and government at a time when the country was struggling and hardest hit by droughts. Khama and his team sourced drought relief packages for the nation when Batswana needed assistance the most. He was focused on developing the country from nothing to a robust economy that it is today as a middle-income economy.
Sir Ketumile MasireHe was the second party and State president who took over after the passing on of Sir Seretse during trying times. Besides leading the country out of droughts that had hit its shores, it was during Masire’s tenure that a decision was taken by government to kill cattle in Nhabe as a way of combating the cattle lung disease.
The decision left the villagers hurt but the BDP-led government but, Masire had no choice, as that was the way of eradicating the cattle lung disease commonly known as CBPP (Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia).
Festus Mogae
Took over from Masire and after his two terms he duly stepped down from the seat of power. Mogae persevered in office, as his tenure was the most challenging as the country battled with the HIV/AIDS pandemic at a time when there was no known therapy to save lives. Mogae sought assistance from global partners who surely came to the rescue of the nation that had witnessed many able-bodied people perishing.
Masisi hailed his party diehards to have played a crucial role in supporting the former president when he needed the people’s support to save the nation during perilous times.
Ian KhamaKhama took over the reins of power at a time when the country was hardest hard hit by the worst global economic recession at the time. Despite all the challenges, Khama stood firm because of the undying support from the party diehards. In 2011, during the public servants mother of all strikes, it was really tough, but Khama and the BDP government persevered through the support of the BDP diehards. Masisi described Khama as his former president and will remain his president no matter what.
Masisi“I have come to notify you that I am equally strong as your leader because of the ruling party’s masses. In the 2019 polls, as the BDP president, I was faced with a massive challenge from coalition parties. There is no BDP president who has faced such a strong opposition coalition at the polls, but nonetheless we performed well and gained more nationally as compared to previous elections”.
He cited that in the 2019 General Election in Shoshong, the UDC won the area after garnering 8,475 votes, whilst the BDP got 3,485, Alliance for Progressives (AP) polled 697 votes. His wish was for the BDP to take its place and reverse the results of the 2019 polls.
Even with Masisi’s seemingly change of heart towards dealing with Khama or having toned down and talking reconciliation, some political commentators dismiss his stance as simply ‘charm offensive’ than what he claims to be pursuing.
In fact, it was apparent that Masisi had to tone down in an endeavour to win the hearts and minds of hostile villagers, majority of whom had left the party (BDP) for the opposition. A good number of politicians had left the BDP with Khama and to welcome just 94 people from the opposition last weekend is a sign that the BDP might have a slow start to recovery. It has a long way to go to be certain of victory in the coming general election.
A political scientist keeping tabs on the President described Masisi as a shrewd political animal and suggested that all eyes are always fixated on widening opportunities for his re-election into office.
“He will never embark on anything unconnected with his election bid. Masisi does like Khama but Khama does not like him.
Their differences are irreconcilable and there is no visible sign of a thaw or rapprochement,” observed our source that spoke on condition of anonymity.
He dismissed talk about reconciliation by Masisi as not genuine. To him it’s a public stunt intended to bolster Masisi’s campaign, no matter how good it sounds. He feels the President has realised that the war he has been waging against Khama is not paying any dividends.
“Remember, this is a vote harvesting season. Politicians will try all sorts of things to try and improve their chances of winning the next general election. The issues between the two leaders (Khama and Masisi) are so irreconcilable,” he told Mmegi.
He finds it really difficult to think of a quick fix to this deep-seated conflict, which started off in 2018. So, he thinks Masisi and his handlers now realise that in terms of the political situation, the ongoing conflict will not bolster their chances or will not land them any credit.
He describes Masisi’s change of heart as the biggest U-turn of the time and dismissed it as not genuine and has nothing to do with making peace but has everything to do with political expediency.
University of Botswana (UB) lecturer in politics and administrative studies, Adam Mfundisi responding to Mmegi enquiries this week, said President Masisi could not be trusted as what he says and does are worlds apart.
He was adamant that Masisi pursues political rhetoric and opportunism to hoodwink people to follow him but hardly carries out promises.
“Personally, I take everything Masisi says with a pinch of salt. He promised a comprehensive Constitution review in the 2019 General Election and during his subsequent State of the Nation Address (SONA) but two years later no substantive progress has been done. Instead of an inclusive Constitution process, he opted for an Executive driven reform, which is not suitable for a national Constitution,” he posited.
He said the President, initially, after assuming office, promised political leaders that he was going to resuscitate the All-Party Forum but to no fruition two years later.
The public service trade unions can attest to unfulfilled promises of promoting industrial relations harmony through the Collective Bargaining system.
“In line with the above observation, the statements by the President should not be taken seriously because he has consistently shown lack of fulfilling promises he makes. Masisi is trying to play politics knowingly that he is not serious in reconciling with his former boss,” the UB academic dismissed the gesture.
Mfundisi further observed that Masisi has weaponised the criminal justice system to go after his enemies including Khama and lately, his government has approached the courts to institute a warrant of arrest against Khama.
The President as the head of State and government, said Mfundisi, has been briefed over the process and the outcome.
“His utterances and pronouncements are not borne by genuine attempts to resolve the political impasse between him and Khama,” he said.
Mfundisi is of the view that the crime of Khama is to join opposition politics more so the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and the resultant defeat of the BDP in its Bangwato stronghold.
“Most serious allegations against Khama seem to be politically motivated.
Masisi is beset with insecurity, which makes him to suspect everyone who is critical of his administration. The President seems to feel that he is accountable to no one but himself and has over time undercut all systems of oversight,” he noted.
He feels Parliament has been reduced to a lap dog and the judiciary is under siege. The BDP has become Masisi’s fiefdom dominating all structures and processes.
Shoshong is within the Bangwato domination and Mfundisi says Masisi is appealing to the voters who are susceptible to his manipulation. He wants to be seen as a peacemaker.
“You might be aware of many attempts to reconcile the two by various people in both the Bangwato tribe and the BDP. These attempts failed partly due to the President’s character and behaviour toward Khama. A public forum is not a genuine place to agitate for a ceasefire with your adversary,” charged the UB academic.
He feels strongly that Khama will not take this statement seriously because he knows the character of Masisi.
Whilst there are Doubting Thomases about the candidness of President Masisi as regards his wish to smoke a peace pipe with Khama, Kavis Kario, the BDP Secretary-General, (SG) doesn’t doubt Masisi’s sincerity.
“It’s a topic we never talked about. But, I can tell you, I found the President to be straightforward, candid and really honest about the matter,” stressed Kario.
He highlighted that Masisi has always presented himself as a man ready to engage even the former president Khama over their differences. The BDP SG has no reason to doubt Masisi’s genuineness in this matter.
After President Masisi’s Shoshong address, Khama took to his Facebook account and wrote: “I have been receiving a number of calls and messages from people informing me about remarks that President Masisi is said to have made recently. He is quoted as saying that he hopes one day he and I can find common ground. I believe there were other remarks he made along the same lines.”
After previously failed peace attempts Khama added, “...In response to his public statement, let me publicly respond by saying that I have asked my brother, Tshekedi Khama to return to Botswana and meet with President Masisi or whoever the President may appoint to meet with him, in order to commence the process of reconciliation in ours and the nation’s interests.”