The quest for collective bargaining and reiterating working class agenda (Part 2) :: Mmegi Online

Knowing your politician, on the face of it seems a simple enough concept, especially in a small intimate community such as we have in Botswana. I have always enjoyed an almost obligatory question that follows an initial introduction to those of an older generation: who are your parent and where are they from? “O ngwana wa ga mang?”

The expression, isn’t important just as a social norm, it has a greater significance even in the political sphere. It seeks to make an association between you and your connections; family; background; political associations and possible “social standing”.

Similarly with one’s right to vote. The vote must be informed and for it to be so, one must know “who” they are voting for and whether their vote is being made to its intended target, both physically by a ballot and figuratively by knowing there is no one pulling the strings on the person you have voted for.

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