Gobe Matenge turns 90

Technocrat Gobe Matenge who contributed significantly towards the development of this country turns 90 years old on Sunday.

He has not only proven himself to be a national builder, an active politician who refused to hold influential position, but a statesman as well. He easily speaks his mind out. He believes in the spirit of sharing where the haves give out to the needy; that children must be taught in their mother tongue, community radio stations must be opened, the constitution must be amended and Dikgosi should not join politics, but instead advocate for improving conditions of Dikgosi and increase their powers where it is necessary amongst other things.

Neither his age nor poor eyesight  has affected his mind, as he is still as sharp as a razor. Among his trademarks are punctuality and frankness. He keeps time and easily gets upset by those who turn up late for appointments, even if it is for a few minutes.

I learned this the hard way on Tuesday when I arrived late and found him waiting for me in his sitting room carrying a copy of his biography “UNEARTHING THE HIDDEN TREASURE THE UNTOLD STORY OF GOBE MATENGE” authored by Oagile Key Dingake. After my arrival he wasted no time; he reprimanded me lecturing me on the importance of punctuality in honouring appointments.

I also got to understand why the author of his biography Oagile Key Dingake does not only describe him as a self- made man who with limited education rose from the position of a messenger to Permanent Secretary. But, like Dingake states, Matenge is also an extremely organised, smart, punctual and factual person who is frank.

Speaking to Botswana Guardian, Matenge revealed that he feels happy about his achievement. “I lived very well for the past 90 years. I am proud that I am still active in life and useful. I can be used in many things, I can also think about many things. I can participate in useful projects. I can be engaged in discussion of any kind.”

Matenge retired 34 years ago on his birthday February 28. Looking back he realises that there are gradual changes for the better, there cannot be stagnation in life.

“I can only hope that we move forward from where we are and hope for improvements. It is not fair to compare what happened 90 years ago with what is happening today. Obviously there are going to be changes, which are visible. We start from the beginning and you gradually go up,” he said.

Political activist
As a political activist he joined the opposition Botswana National Front (BNF) back in the days and although he did not hold any position in the party, “I was active as a member.” When Botswana Congress Party (BCP) broke away from the BNF, “I was one of those people who assisted in forming the BCP. Since then, I remain an active BCP member.”

Philanthropy work
Without doubt Matenge is a philanthropist. His fellow villagers in Matenge can attest to that. “I do give within my reasonable means. I assist particularly at Matenge village. I made it a point that occasionally I give the primary children a complete set of school uniforms. There is no reason for me to stop doing that. If I had the means, I would be assisting many more schools around the country”.

Use of mother language
Matenge believes that it is important that children must be taught in their mother language in order to understand where they come from. He says it is only logical for the community to maintain their language because if they do not maintain it the language will disappear and nobody wants their language to disappear. But, the quickest way of making languages go extinct is not to teach it in school. “I am a supporter of people who advocate that mother tongue must be taught in schools. It does not matter what language it is.”

Community radio stations
On non availability of community radio stations, he said for the community to feel proud, they ought to know that when they are approached for their views, you ask them in their own language and they feel free to express themselves in describing exactly what their needs are. Community radio stations are so critical within Botswana community. It a great disservice not to have them, he said. “In fact, it is an insult not to have community radio stations today.”

On BCP and UDC marriage
“I know that the policy of the BCP is that they are prepared to discuss with any like-minded political opposition party, of course not prepared to discuss with the ruling BDP. But, with any political party which has almost similar policies. That is what I encourage; the only thing which I detest, is the idea of some people who say BCP must join UDC.  It is a non starter to talk like that. The starting point should be to discuss,” he said, adding that discussions will inform the decision to take.

African presidents extending office term
“I condemn anybody who wants to extend the period beyond what is prescribed by the constitution. All should stick to the constitution. It was prepared by the people themselves, they knew what they were doing, but if you decide to change it for personal reasons, you must be condemned, and I condemn you. If you are given two terms, which is common these days and you can not achieve what you are supposed to achieve, it does not mean the extra period will help you to make better changes. In fact, it is much better that after serving your term you must leave and give others a chance to come in and proceed from where you stopped.”

Constitutional amendments
“Our constitution can not stay as it is, it was prepared many years ago, there have been changes in life, and in life it is absolutely necessary that we must sit down as a nation and review the constitution holistically to make sure that it is keeping with the present trend, otherwise it is lagging behind in some respects. But we should not just rush through some changes. We should sit down and agree logically on how this document should be improved. There are many areas where this document can be improved to produce a nice document.”

On Dikgosi joining politics
“It is a pity that Dikgosi are beginning to be attracted into politics, I do not know why, but I suspect the only reason why they do so is for financial gain. Otherwise I see no reason why they should not talk about improving conditions of Dikgosi and increase their powers where it is necessary because Bogosi is a very useful institution, which must remain. My advice is, if you are born the son of a Chief and feel you want to join politics then you have the right to do so. But, in my view, you should not accept the position of the leader of the tribe and along the line you run away from your responsibilities because you hear the salary of an MP is higher than the salary of a chief. To me that is not right,” he said.

Conduct of current MPs
“Of late I do not go to parliament as regularly as I used to in the past. However, I do occasionally follow the proceedings through many media forums like reading newspapers and listening to radio.  What I have realised is that some of the things done or said by our current crop of MPs are right, but others are not quite right. At this point in time, I feel that all the MPs can do better than they are currently doing now. I would have expected that by this time the parliamentarians should be better than those who started parliament in 1966. But I get the impression that we have not moved far enough in this respect. My observation is people turn to think that you go to parliament because you are told that you will earn something. When parliament started, our understanding is you were keen and anxious to go to parliament because you felt you could make a useful contribution towards the development of your country. The question of money was always there, but it was not the reason for becoming a politician. At the moment, I get the impression that is not the case, things have changed slightly, but I wish they could really improve so that we can hope for the best MPs.”

The birthday party
Matenge will celebrate his birthday in grand style with his wife Daisy, family, relatives and friends at a private party at GICC this Sunday afternoon.

Who are his best friends?
“I have many friends, and actually everybody whom I have invited is a friend regardless of their status. They are my guests and they are equal and therefore, I cannot categorise them, but I can say, they are all my friends.
There are those who are my best friends, but of course to mention them will take the whole day. I do not want to mention any names, but I can only say, there are friends and best friends.”

Matenge is a contented man. He is comfortable with what God has given him. “I am not a greedy person, I take it that God does not make mistake in giving you what he gives. What you are before God is what you are and no more than that.”

Advice to youth
“Work hard, respect other persons, be tolerant, and be respectable because you have the chance of making this country very bright.”