Khama rejects'radio gift'
MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer
| Monday May 27, 2013 00:00
The donor came short of begging the President to receive the gift, a wireless radio set, as she called it because it came 'from the bottom of her heart'.Dorcas Itumeleng, was beside herself crying and begging the President not to spurn her gift.
Before the President could receive the said gift, Itumeleng suggested that if at all the President did not like it, he should not return it to sender. She said rather the President should donate it to another needy person with love. She claimed that she too received the gift from someone else.
The President's spurned gift, an apparently broken down wireless set failed to tune into any channel (ke radio e sumahela, ga e tshware staichane), also likely failed to impress the President. Itumeleng persistently hoped Khama would use his powers to fine tune the wireless set and keep it or donate it to someone else who needs it more in case he doesn't like it himself.
It was then that Khama sent one of his bodyguards to retrieve the gift. The wireless set was however not to be found anywhere in sight. The bodyguards were instead told by the donor of the malfunctioning wireless set that the gift was in fact a human being who is the mentally disabled and epileptic son of Itumeleng. She in essence wants the President or the State to adopt him.
When the bodyguard relayed the message to Khama, he returned the gift without a doubt to sender; tongue-in-cheek.'Ga nkake ka amogela mpho ya gago Mmaetsho ka gore ngwana ke mpho ya Modimo (A child is a gift from God...I would not want to take away God's gift from you),' said the President.
Itumeleng stuck with her 'malfunctioning wireless set' which is in fact is her son received P200 from Khama to buy airtime.She gladly received her gift.