PR guru drops career to embrace Bamangwato princehood
Mbongeni Mguni | Friday May 7, 2021 15:14
Mmegi: What position exactly are you taking up within the Bamangwato bogosi?My father Kgosi Sekgoma Tshekedi Khama, is the remaining son of Kgosi Tshekedi Khama. As is the tradition, when Kgosi Tshekedi Khama passed away on Wednesday June 10, 1959, his responsibilities fell to his eldest son who was called Kgosi Leapeetswe Khama. My father, as the second born, was expected to play a supporting role to his older brother. In much the same way, I too will be stepping into my father’s shoes, as he is at an advanced age and has voluntarily decided to embrace retirement.
Mmegi: What duties does the position entail?
To be quite frank, just being born into this family there is an expectation that you will “play your part.” On the simpler end of the playing your part scale, it means not bringing the family name into disrepute, as is our tradition as Batswana in general. Part of maintaining the reputation means being a model citizen, because you have to lead by example. This then helps position you as trustworthy and that people can trust you enough to consult you on a wide range of matters. A combination of education and experience balances out how useful your counsel is to people.
So the duties that define this role I now play include being a relationship manager for my father with people that look to him for his counsel. He isn’t fully available any longer, however, I am now his “eyes and ears” especially when he does have to interact with people or forums. There is a lot of dialogue in traditional leadership in Botswana, for the most part I would be trying to represent what my father might say if called upon to contribute. Lately I am able to render my own opinion here and there. I will be the first to say there is still a lot of background work to do there before I can be 100% resourceful in that space.
The most important duty, if I may, will be assisting in furthering the Tshekedi Khama Legacy Foundation (TKLF). This is an initiative led by grandchildren of Kgosi Tshekedi Khama to revive, remember and reintroduce the many positive leadership lessons that Kgosi Tshekedi Khama imparted in his productive service to Bangwato. TKLF launched in September 2015 in the presence of dignitaries that included Kgosi Seretse Khama Ian Khama alongside his cousins Kgosi Sekgoma Khama and Mohumagadi Semane Molotlegi. The significance was that this was the first time anyone had seen the Khama family showing a united front behind remembering one of the architects of Gamangwato and Botswana.
Mmegi: Take us through the considerations as you made up your mind to leave a career in public relations and take up the position?First of all, this was an easy decision to make, but let me set the stage. When we were much younger, I already felt that I would have to step up one day, but it made me anxious at times not being able to identify what expectation I had to fulfil. It even felt oppressive at times back then, especially when in the middle of history class your surname would pop up and quizzical eyes would turn to you. The significance was not lost on me; here I am reading about family members in history books in Zimbabwe, Sweden, South Africa, (and) UK.
Next, my father was quite deliberate about the schools he took me to, elite boarding schools from age 10 until I graduated from high school, so that too felt like preparation. From Hartmann House and Saint Georges College both in Harare, Zimbabwe, to SigtunaSkolan Humanistiska Läroverket in Sigtuna, Sweden, Westminster College in London, England, EFC in Ebieltoft, Denmark. All these schools boast of illustrious alumni, for instance Kgosi Carl XVI Gustaf, the reigning monarch in Sweden - and now me. It was while I was at these schools and others that I gradually stopped questioning why I was nearly always being appointed a team captain, prefect, head boy, SRC head, producer or some other leadership role. The anxiety dissipated when I appreciated that actually, I can do this leadership thing and whatever stepping up I would have to do in life, I would do, gladly.
As for the final reason, I have discovered that our culture spends a lot of time grooming young people through tasks. This includes joining marriage negotiations, attending funerals, officiating at commemorative functions, joining in-laws for their events and my personal favourite, merero or family meetings - about absolutely everything. I found all this passive grooming fascinating. I was that guy who instead of watching and learning would quietly ask- why are we doing that? What does this gesture mean? Why this instead of that? Is that legal?
So for me to be able to put all this grooming, and everything else I have been learning, into action was worth it to switch career lanes a little. It’s a challenge for me to see how well I can navigate this family responsibility, and also to do it well.
Mmegi: What elements of your PR career do you believe will assist in the challenges of the new role?I think listening better and asking questions to understand are two soft skills that will come in very handy. In PR, I learnt to listen past the point – what is the client really saying, what do they mean by that? Another skill is being able to talk about delicate matters delicately, however, this was a skill I had to develop.
I tended to solve problems without being emotionally invested in them so I could keep a clear head. However, learning to communicate with emotional investment in your eyes and voice also has its uses, more so if you are giving people bad news. Creating an opportunity is my favourite part of the PR industry, because it makes everything even more worth it.
Creating opportunities will be a big part of achieving some ideas my father has been chasing for a while, thankfully they also echo the initiatives of Kgosi Tshekedi Khama before him so there is that continuity.
Mmegi: What is your comment on the role of Bogosi as an institution at a time when many Batswana are losing faith in other institutions such as government, the judiciary and media?
In my view the value of Bogosi has really been under-appreciated in the last 30 years. My theory is that as we embraced what is called sustainable development it was at the expense of a lot of our traditional values. It seems no one stopped to think that we could have both development and our values working in harmony.
Much of the significance of Bogosi’s role is that it is steeped in tradition, so it is always a great reference point to look to if we feel our traditional values being eroded. I also strongly feel the institution is a good lens through which to view the future.
Ideally, I would like to see Bogosi consulted more as a key institution rather than a box to be ticked.
The immense job that Bogosi did in helping build a nation when the Republic was finally founded, and the support it gave Botswana through those fledgling years, needs to have been acknowledged in perpetuity. Bogosi, I feel, still attracts a significant level of trust from ordinary people – true, much may be a form of muscle memory, however it is exactly that which will guide modern dikgosi especially in these dynamic times.
Mmegi: Do you believe your comparative youthfulness will be to your advantage or disadvantage in your new position?Sadly, I wish I was 10 years younger at least, generally we still wait too long to let younger people lead from the front.
My favourite example of exactly what a young person can achieve in a relatively short space of time has got to be Kgosi Tshekedi Khama. The 21-year-old young man had to drop college to be a Regent for Bangwato while the rightful Heir to the throne was still four years old.
Yes, circumstance handed Kgosi Tshekedi the reigns at that particular time, but it is undeniable what can be achieved by young people when we look at the results of his efforts. Negotiating concessions with the coloniser, introducing multiple developments and innovations, commercial farming, preparing and submitting a position against Namibia’s annexation at the League of Nations, also starting and maintaining a family. This was before there was an A1 or Air Botswana to fold distances across the vast Ngwato territory.
So for me I feel handicapped by my age, even having a youthful outlook won’t last as long as it should.
Mmegi: Will you continue in PR at any level and if not, is this a goodbye to your career in the industry?I believe that just by saying Dumelang Bagaetsho, I am already doing PR.
Honestly, I will never be far from communications, but I have since broadened my scope of interests as I feel they too will have a role to play in creating opportunities. I am a director with Shumba Money, a fintech start-up offering cross border remittances into SADC from the West.
There are many lessons that I am going to learn with regards including more people into financial systems and seeing how to bring real change to communities. I am a Botswana partner in a regional African IT company, CyberThrust, which I hope will one day develop solutions based on African systems.
I am also part of a network that is developing a type of conscientious tourism where open-minded visitors can come and enjoy our country and have an opportunity to engage practically with Bogosi to learn about our leadership systems. Of course, there is also the TKLF which will also be key in studying and sharing the leadership lessons of Kgosi Tshekedi Khama.
*Khama is a holistic media specialist with 22-year long career adventure in Film, Print, Journalism and Public Relations. He has led teams in facilitating communications objectives for various institutional names in Financial services, Telco’s, FMCG, Beverages, NGOs, Tech companies and Government. Currently he is a director of a Fintech start up and several other ventures aimed at providing social change.
He speaks Setswana, Swedish and English as his main languages of communication, with a general knowledge of French and Norwegian. He is a married undercover chef who sits on the board of the sport of Fencing