Sorry, it is hard not to cut a morbid tone when trying to sum up what for all intents and purposes, has been a woeful year, for many. I received a caution, the other day, from a colleague, Attorney Owen Nsala, to count the blessings. Fine, I survived COVID19, President Masisi got Banyana Farms; Indian merchants sold more groceries than ever; COVID-19, briefcase merchants sold our government PPE’s at four times the cost; the construction mafia were unable to keep an African symbol of success, Simbi Phiri, out of Botswana, and there has not been another lockdown. Further, no one is complaining because beer is flowing freely. What more; the poultry mafia are still smiling, thinking they have won. So do the tourism, pharmaceutical, and other mafia who live on our recurrent and development budgets. So there is something for everyone. We are blessed.
As they say, “it will end in tears”. And indeed, it ends in tears for me. There is no hope, for an ordinary Motswana. Until now, President Masisi’s rule, is simply the past entered through another door. We are yet to see that time when the happiness of a people is the sole objective of government. Until the economy is open to Batswana in all sectors, this discourse will continue. Until the BDP says no, to corrupt Indian and Chinese capital, we will not tire to remind its vanguard that, “fatshe leno, la rona”. The year, 2021, shall be worse. To corrupt, state captors, we declare war. I have said it before, and I say it again. From where I stand, all those who are in our country looking to earn an honest living are and should be welcome. They should not feel discriminated against, on account of colour religion, or creed. I still have Indian clients who have supported my business, and whose hearts “flow with the pure while milk of human kindness”. They invite me to their offices and homesteads and we wine and dine, together. No one should mistake my commentary for racial hatred. Everyone is welcome here so long as they are here to earn an honest living. State captors are not welcome, and they must leave. I was waiting to be assisted at a local bank today, and I struck a conversation with another gentleman on the queue. He said, “I have been following your commentary on the poultry issue”. I said to him that the issue is not that anyone should stop trading. Indian, white people and the Chinese, are free, within the law to trade in any sector they choose.
