Face to face with Hobona

Ryder Gabathuse | Friday January 31, 2014 17:28

FRANCISTOWN: At a very tender age Dr Habaudi Njiro Hobona was already politically conscious of the environment she was living in.'I come from a political family,' she says gesticulating with her hands at her surgery, Polani Clinic opposite the picturesque Francistown City Council building.

Her grandfather Hobona Mpalake Nshakazhogwe exposed the family members to the realities of life especially his bloody and humiliating skirmishes with Bangwato chieftainship.The grandfather, after whom their village, Hobona, is named, was at some stage humiliated by Bangwato under the leadership of Khama the Great. His offence was refusing instructions from Gammangwato to vacate Hobona settlement and depart for the land of Bakhurutshe in Tonota.Hobona could not leave the settlement immediately because during the olden days, people moved between the places in search of good soil for tilling and good pastures for livestock. Most importantly, they settled in areas where there was a stable source of water.

He had invested there and could not leave his source of wealth hastily. Khama interpreted this as total defiance and the Bangwato unleashed his royal might on the lesser mortal in Dr Hobona's grandfather.Hobona, 67 relates the story that was told by her grandfather several times in his life as if it happened yesterday.'As a way of trying to force him out of the land that he and others occupied, he was flogged and left for dead bleeding profusely,' she says.She was however, ineradicably pained by the fact that all her grandfather's possessions were set ablaze including cattle, sheep and goats.These are some of the realities that propelled Hobona to stand up against all inequities perpetrated by the current President Ian Khama regime.The old man, she says, would later advocate for freedom from the Bangwato hegemony.'We grew up knowing that we should be aware and talk openly about people's freedoms and rights.'Our grandfather always encouraged us not to shy away from talking about people's issues.'Her grandfather settled in Hobona from Leshongwane as a member of the Nshakazhogwe dynasty.As a way of showing all and sundry that he had to protect his rights, Nshakazhogwe took Khama the Great to court and won the case. Khama was ordered to compensate him and the people of Hobona.Upon hearing about the dastardly act, then governor of the colonial government reminded Khama that he should have followed the right channels if he had any complaints about Nshakazhogwe instead of punishing him brutally without even affording him a hearing.'The story we have been told is that it was my great grandmother who saved the situation by falling upon my bleeding grandfather and hence protecting him from the incessant flogging, daring Khama's henchmen to kill her instead.'Hobona and his people were compensated amongst others, with the piece of land where the Hobonas reside today along the Francistown-Maun highway, a few kilometres from Francistown.Interestingly, her father, aptly named Seitshwenyeng as if to comfort the suffering Hobona clan, was an active member of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). But she was not motivated in anyway to follow her father's footsteps to join the ruling party. Her aunt, Tumelo Hobona on the other hand was an active member of the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP).It was about that time, when she was in her formative life, that she knew there has to be a time to stand the ground for the people.Whilst in the public service, Hobona was perturbed by the lack of training for the citizen medical doctors.

The local doctors only formed about 15 percent with foreign doctors taking the larger share.'The last day I walked out was in a meeting of medical doctors. I told them it was not easy to move policies to protect the local doctors.'I just informed them that we will meet in Parliament as an MP to influence policy,' she says.As she matured in life, she saw politics creeping into just everything. After 24 years of continuous service in the public service as a medical practitioner, Hobona quit for private practice in 2001. The private surgical clinic, Polani opposite the civic centre came into existence that year, 2001. She got the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) membership in 2003.In the 2004 and 2009 general elections, she stood against the late Baledzi Gaolathe in Tonota North constituency and lost.

She would later contest a by-election in 2010 following Gaolatlhe's death and lost to Fidelis Molao of the BDP.She says, she may have lost all the contests in Tonota North, but she has changed perception there as people used to think that challenging the BDP was a taboo in their stronghold.  'I went to Tonota North to make our people aware of their political choices. Despite my losses, the numbers urged me go on and on.' Her understanding is that people want to hear, see and compare leaders.Since she has relocated to Francistown closer to the people, the BCP politician has more time with the constituents and this will definitely bolster her campaigns for the 2014 general elections.

As the country goes to the polls in October, Hobona declares that the battle has started for she knows that last Saturday's victory was stirring the hones' nest.  In a poll with a historic parliamentary low voter turn out, Hobona was voted by 966 people, followed by Botswana People's Party (BPP) candidate Shatiso Tambula who garnered 578 votes. Independent candidates Joseph Mabutho and Kago Phofuetsile got 157 and 117 votes respectively.As a woman, she feels more challenged generally than her male counterparts. She says the Setswana culture looks at women with a certain deprecating eye. But, she is optimistic that more women in the opposition bloc would make it in large numbers.Incidentally, her weekend victory has brought confidence in the BCP camp that empowering women in politics has a potential of delivering powerful leaders.She is worried that a lot of women go into politics only to be let down by limited resources.Had it not been for the support of her party, friends and other well-wishers who saw to it that project 'Mma-Hobona' goes through without hitches, she believed she would have struggled woefully.As she takes her seat in the House on Monday, Dr Hobona is carrying a message of worry; a recent survey showing that Botswana has one of the highest rates of single motherhood. 

She also sees Parliament as a platform to add a voice to the debate about the development agenda of the city and burning national issues.She says Francistown has lost its status as the second biggest city and it will be amongst her priorities to redeem the lost glory.Dr Hobona qualified as a medical doctor in 1976 from the Royal Free School of Medicine for Women in the United Kingdom. She would later get her fellowship of the Royal College of Surgery of Edinburgh.She served at a number of medical facilities around the country including at the then Jubilee Hospital, Princess Marina Hospital, Sekgoma Memorial Hospital and Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital where she finally retired.She is among a team that first organised and set up Nyangabgwe as a referral hospital. 

Whilst she was at the helm of Nyangabgwe as the hospital superintendent, it attracted a number of negative names including, 'slaughter house'.There is a reason, she says. The hospital was opened at the peak of HIV/AIDS, which was a challenge to providing effective health services. Also, she says, the people of Francistown had lost Jubilee hospital, as it had been turned into a psychiatrist facility. Nyangabgwe was therefore always congested with people who would otherwise have been assisted elsewhere in the local clinics.There was an upside to the crisis.  According to Hobona made some valuable research, in conjunction with an international university she could not name, through post-mortems of people who have died through HIV/AIDS. The research findings were very helpful as it revealed that there was a very high correlation between HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis infection.'Even Kebatlamang Morake, who was the former minister of  health, at some stage, became supportive and encouraged city civic leaders to talk to the people to utilise local clinics and only visit Nyangabgwe on referral basis,' she reminisces.Hobona is a mother of two boys, an engineer and an architect. She says the Hobonas are mainly scientists.