Khama, Masisi warned not to hold country to ransom
Member of Parliament for Gantsi North Noah Salakae says President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor Dr. Ian Khama should be cautioned that they are not bigger than the country.
“We may not know what led to their standoff. But let us not be fooled. It is clear there was a promise. It would be more helpful if the President could give us the background so we lay the matter to its logical conclusion. It is not enough for the president to say peace has eluded them. So what?
“Does the president need help or he is just saying it because Khama’s adversaries have advised him to say so? If he really needs help why not furnish us with all the necessary information Pastor Jackson refers to in his prophecy. A promise is a promise,” said Salakae when debating the State of the Nation Address.
He argued that if Minister Tshekedi Khama was promised the position of Vice President why not give it to him because it was a promise? He wondered why if there was a gentleman’s agreement that Isaac Kgosi will stay put in his office post-Khama era, why somersault without a word?
The legislator told Parliament that he agrees with the school of thought that Khama must also understand that a secret deal gone sour is as good as failed. The long and short of it according to Salakae is that the two leaders must not hold the country to ransom because they fooled each other not Batswana. They must fully demonstrate that they are statesmen of repute who are not driven by selfishness otherwise history will judge them harshly, he said.
“For a longtime we have lived a lie in Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). From inception we never had a vision of what we want to become as a nation; instead the sitting president’s personal tastes defined the national agenda, with the greatest beneficiary of this agenda turning out to be those in the foreign lands and the privileged few.
“This is why I tend to differ with MP Sadique Kebonang that the reason why Batswana are not so successful is because they lack the spirit of brotherhood, or not supportive of each other. The truth is Batswana are unhappy; they have been made hopeless; they have been turned into a desperate society, good only for blankets donations, tents and diphaphatha in the midst of plenty.”
He pointed out that it is not that they are not supportive of each other, but they want a new beginning and “I entirely agree with them.” Salakae indicated that he welcomes wholeheartedly the law on declaration of assets, and is hopeful it will curb excessive greed and crippling corruption that has become a trademark of the BDP regime for a longtime now. In my view, it is this greed that is also at the centre of the Khama-Masisi feud,” he posited.