Mogae warns 'shadow' correspondents

Mogae spoke of people bent on making things difficult for Vice President Ian Khama and said such people 'will not manage'. The President was particularly angry with people who sent vitriolic articles, critical of the government of the day to newspapers, using pseudonyms. He said this was particularly disturbing because there was no truth in what such people wrote. 'They are people in the (political) opposition at the University of Botswana who write letters to newspapers and use false names like Peter Mogae, while saying untrue things about the government and certain individuals,' the President said, adding that he knew who the culprits were.

Mogae, who seemed considerably troubled by the issue, said if the government wanted to, it could easily go to court and force the papers to release the names of such correspondents. 'It is not that we do not know who they are. E bile ga ke ne ke sa bue mo kgotleng, ke kabo ke mo roga. (And If I wasn't speaking in the kgotla, I would swear at them.) We know that even when they use false names, the papers have their real names.'

While the political opposition had conducted itself well and maintained cordial relations with the government in power, these authors of lies had the potential to bring this to an end. 'I applaud the opposition because while they disagree (with us), they have never resorted to violence when they did not win,' Mogae said. 'For that I applaud and encourage them.' Messages about certain people in the opposition intent on making Vice-President Ian Khama's transition to office difficult were reaching him.

'We have heard that there are people in the opposition who have vowed to make things difficult for him (Khama), but they will not manage,' Mogae warned. 'Tricks like these have the potential to harm nations, even one as peaceful as ours.

'My last advice and warning to them is stop the tricks and come out in the open and disagree with anyone. This is a democracy, and that is why there is such a thing as objective scholarship,' he said.  He referred to 'rumours' of bullet proof vehicles being purchased: 'I guess all the cars I have been using will be thrown away,' he said derisively.

The President said people should keep in mind that nothing could be purchased without discussion and approval of Parliament, and especially without his authorisation. Mogae also warned the media not to allow themselves to be unfairly used by the opposition:

'They (the media) are free to say or write anything, but working with opposition to make up things about the government will not be tolerated.'