Masetlheng: The street that nurtured Boko
Ryder Gabathuse - Lewanika Timothy | Monday November 11, 2024 17:15
By the time you read this story, the fluid developments at the President’s long term residence would have shifted as this week Monday, the President was moved to a more manageable space security wise by his handlers, to a government guest house awaiting his predecessor to vacate the State House. But, this does not seem to take away the significance of the Masetlheng home to the President’s life. This is where all the powerful strategies that won the UDC the presidency and other achievements were plotted after a long stretch of missing the idiomatic bus.
The frantic frenzy around plot 2748 Masetlheng home of the President is made peculiar by the streets simplicity that doesn’t immediately give away the presence of the First Citizen’s homestead. The length and breadth of the area is common man’s ground, the bells and whistles in the area’s building aren’t bespoke but lo and behold a President arose.
Masetlheng ward, known for its close-knit community where neighbours greet each other and children gather to play. Here the President’s journey took its first steps, amongst people who knew Duma Boko not as a political leader but as a young resident with aspirations larger than his neighbourhood. But, politics has always been his bigger journey and he harboured bigger dreams with it or through it.
As passersby go through the streets asking which house belongs to the President, residents as one would assume, boldly stop not only to give direction but to also narrate a tale of how they lived and breathed the same air as the First Ctizen of the country. As a human rights lawyer, Boko’s listening ear and tendencies to accommodate people, interacting with them from across the societal strata made him a popular name in Masetlheng. He is accessible and enjoys holding conversations with everyone. In politics, numbers really matter and one can only choose people at his or her own peril.
As the sun sets over Masetlheng street, the road leading to Boko’s street no longer bears the dreams of a young political aspirant but now embodies the aspirations of a nation. This once-quiet street has become a beacon of hope and inspiration, a reminder that even the most ordinary places can give rise to the most extraordinary members of our society. Masetlheng has produced a State President. Residents are jubilating that from their neighbourhood a President was produced. Well, to some, Boko is that gentleman who is ever natty whether going to court of just socialising. They consider him to be a Sesquipedalian with his bombastic words and legal jargons often laced with Latin words. Masetlheng is part of the bigger Tlokweng, a peri-urban settlement classified as an urban village and located east of the capital of Botswana, Gaborone. Tlokweng falls under the jurisdiction of Tlokweng District Council. It can also be considered part of the metropolis of Gaborone.
This street and in particular the paved road that passes in front of the President’s house altered its behaviour early this week and started choosing who should pass through it especially after Boko was declared the winner of the 2024 polls. Members of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) from last Sunday as well as the President’s other bodyguards started trooping into the area, making it the busiest around Masetlheng and the entire Tlokweng urban village which has a population of about 55,508.
Tlokweng is one of the constituencies that voted for Boko’s party in large numbers with the area’s new MP being Phenyo Segokgo. Boko also cast his vote in Tlokweng in full glare of the village’s informed voters.
For the BDF, their troop carriers (trucks) and the portable or mobile toilets and others athwarted Boko’s home street, signalling that business has commenced as Boko’s security was enhanced after the commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Placid Segokgo took oath of allegiance to the President last Sunday.
The President’s security detail and other government officers jam-packed the entire street obliging the neighbours to marvel at the new development. This is the beauty of winning the elections. Masetlheng has played a cucial role in the making of the sixth President and it will go down in the annals of history as a village that raised Boko. Now, the complexion of Masetlheng has diametrically changed as it has been turned into focal point by many. Even when the President finally relocated to a government guest house, before landing at the State House, talk about Boko’s house will continue as it remains under the prying eyes of the security members. The house changed status with its owner and it will remain as popular as its owner. “Ke ntlo ya ga tautona (It’s the President’s house)” ,talk shall remain even many years later.
In the neighbourhood, the man who used to come in and out of his house either rushing to the courts of law as he has been practising as an Advocate in Botswana’s courts of law has become the First Citizen. His journey to the highest office in the land is well documented and many can attest to his many attempts and three times failures before he finally struck the right chord with the citizens.
Because of the presence of men attired in military fatigue, at night the street in front of the President’s house fell lonely as people ordinarily feared the questions they would be asked by the President’s patrolling army men, “Le ya kae? (Where are you going?) as the inquisitive guards had asked a few people before relocating with the President in their numbers. Even when the many soldiers who used to report for duty at the President’s house have relocated to where the President is now, people in the neighbourhood will always keep a distance from the President’s home as if they are being incessantly watched. The President enjoys protection from the military, the police and the intelligence community amongst others.
The raucous and cacophonous sound of the siren accompanied by the blinding blue light from the President’s piloting cars emphasised a story that Boko was not an ordinary citizen anymore, his status has transformed to that of the First Citizen. Masetlheng residents would also remember speed at which the President’s convoy sped sending oncoming traffic to the shoulders of the narrow Tlokweng roads and scared the poor children who played their games out in the streets.
Perhaps, just out of veneration of Boko’s new status, our visit to his Tlokweng house neighbourhood, reflected the quietude except the noise emanating from the new settlers in and around his house. The Boko house occupies almost every space in the plot and this forced some of his officers to operate from outside the yard. It was apparent that the house was not built with the newly acquired status in mind. The President is served by many officers in a well coordinated effort.
By merely taking position at the President’s house, the presence of the army by any measure was intimidating to ordinary citizens denying people the usual enjoyment of the convenient street that connects to many other streets. Even colleague, photo hournalist Moreri Sejakgomo enjoyed cruising in front of the street as we politely exchanged banters with the army men who had just resumed duty.
From its unobtrusive days, the street started attracting the attention of passersby who for nearly two decades might have taken Boko and his Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) party for granted as the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was deceived by its mantra of ruling the country “Go ya go ileng( or forever)” . Boko’s house number 2748 quickly became the cynosure of all eyes as uniformed army men and intelligence officers took over the control of the long but narrow street in front of the President’s house. xxxThis is the street that partly nurtured Botswana’s sixth President and the first to historically come from an opoosition party. For the longest time, Boko’s house was the command centre of his party activities as this is where crucial decisions and major strategies were made.
Boko himself hails from Xhosa 1 ward in Mahalapye, but for nearly two decades, Masetlheng was his stable and permanent address. This is where he also cast his vote in the just ended polls that toppled the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from 58 years of uninterrupted rule. Residents of Masetlheng ward will quickly reminisce about the events that took place at house 2748 in the period before the 2019 General Election when security organss accompanying the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) personnel raided Boko’s house with accusations that he was not paying tax in the process losing some of his valuables incuding expensive motor vehicles. Boko’s neighbourhood watched in disbelief as the man who was not only their neighbour, but a leader of a political party that was contesting the national polls was subjected to abuse by the security organs that included the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), Botswana Police Sercice (BPS) and others. All eyes remained set on him and he enjoyed the sypathy of the villagers.
Masetlheng will remain the President’s home.