The Introvert orator
Pamela Dube | Monday November 11, 2024 17:20
Back in 2012, when Duma Boko was appointed by the contracting parties as the leader of the newly established Umbrella for Democratic (UDC), many outside the party that brought him to the limelight, the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the legal fraternity circles, knew little of the Mahalapye native. When seven years later, in 2019, I posted on my Facebook page that the reason Boko appealed to the ordinary folks was that “his is not what he is because of who his father is. He is self-made...” many supporters of our leaders were offended. FB guns came blazing, accusing me of insinuating that other leaders rode on family connections. At the time, Boko’s running mate was Botswana Congress Party (BCP) president, Dumelang Saleshando, son of Gilson Saleshando, former Member of Parliament (MP) and party leader.
The then ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) had former president Mokgweetsi Masisi, son of one of the ministers in Sir Seretse Khama administration, the late Sethomo Masisi, and younger brother to former MP, the late Tshelang Masisi. Masisi had been handed the reins by former president Ian Khama, son of the founding president, Sir Seretse Khama, and his younger brother, Tshekedi Khama, was a minister who had resigned to join their new party, Botswana Patriotic Front, then under the leadership of Biggie Butale. The former Assistant Minister in the Khama administration, is the late Chapson Butale’s nephew, a minister in the late Sir Ketumile Masire’s administration. Also on the presidential race was the Alliance for Progressives (AP)’s Ndaba Gaolathe, the son of former Finance minister, the late Baledzi Gaolathe. On the presidential debate that fateful night, when his utterances were blamed for the UDC loss in the 2019 elections, Boko was the only ‘self-made’ man, or as he later labelled himself, a leader moulded and nurtured by the ordinary Batswana. Back to my friend’s comment, I am always quick to say maybe we do not know him as much. Different people hold different views and opinions about President Boko, the person and the politician. The President and I may have arrived in this world at Mahalapye Health Post (now hospital), two years apart and could easily have been transported in Rre Motiakone Tlhalerwa’s the legendary ‘taxi’ BM 66 ‘koloi ya batsetsi’ from the clinic to our family homesteads and went to the same primary school, Tamocha. But we did not cross paths as Mahalapians. I first got to know Boko when he was the chairperson of BONELA in the mid-2000s. One day I got an invite from Boko to the launch of an LGQTI+ organisation, LEGABIBO at the President Hotel. I was the chairperson the Press Council of Botswana.
My then pastor, Biggie Butale, was also invited, as the chairperson of Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana (EFB). When he heard that I was attending the launch, he threw the EFB invite to me, insisting I represent them. The gathering had attracted a few other church leaders. A session that was supposed to be short and brief, ran into hours. As expected, the Church, wanted nothing to do with LEGABIBO, so a youthfully, “arrogant boy with big English words”, stood his ground, engaging the highly charged Bible trumping men and women of the cloth. He would not back down, standing on human rights ground that nobody could shake. I found myself warming to his position, as it resonated well with the activist in me, to the shock of my fellow Christians. I recall having to report to EFB board, my pastors looking at me like I had been sold to the devil. This was when I really took interest in the stubborn young lawyer, who seemed to itch for battle of thoughts at any opportunity. In later years as he would take on political opponents, I would quietly watch, feeling sorry for them, knowing that Boko takes no prisoners. When pushed into a corner, Boko would always return with a charge of a wounded buffalo. As he has said before, the Xhosa boy comes all armed and ready to battle when he is at his weakest. As a political journalist, I found his human rights convictions and ability to stand and defended his position, however unpopular, refreshing.
He reminded me a lot of the one African leader I covered extensively, former South African president, Thabo Mbeki. As an editor, I would time and again insist that court reporters ensure they got his comments on legal matters, not that many wanted to. While at The Voice, one young reporter covering a landmark case of Basarwa, where another human rights lawyer, Justice Unity Dow, differed with fellow judges by ruling against the government, I told the reporter to “make sure Boko speaks on this.” When the story came for editing, Boko’s name was nowhere in the story. On enquiring, he nervously said, “Mma Dube kana that man o tsenya dingalo. Ga ke mo utlwe nna.” This line was to be common when President Boko went into full time politics. After being part of the formation of the late Dr Kenneth Koma’s last political formation, the New Democratic Front (NDF), which landed at BCP in the early 2000’s, Boko made a controversial return to the BNF. Amidst the court cases that followed his election as the BNF president in 2010, Boko rose to the occasion, injecting life into leftist politics. But every time he addressed press conferences, you would hear rumblings of “this man and his big words!” He would throw poor reporters off with legal jargon, laced with Latin. When the UDC hit the road for the 2014 elections, with Boko and the late Gomolemo ‘Sir G’ Motswaledi causing the BDP sleepless nights, the ‘watching from far’ stance was no longer an option for some of us. Khama’s administration was proving uncomfortable for us in the media and the labour activism space. We fell into the same trenches, forced into picking and pushing each other up. Together with a few in the media space, we formed a sounding board and guide to the duo and other party leaders in the run up to the elections. I think it was Motswaledi’s tragic death that forced me into getting more involved, working closely with Boko and his communication team led by Cde Moeti Mohwasa. It was when I got to understand and appreciate what many saw in Boko, an orator of note.
You would meet briefly, or put through a short call to him, and minutes later you would stand in awe listening to him speak to your ideas with conviction and clarity. But something bothered me. Meeting him, in closed meetings, away from the crowds, we could sit talking amongst ourselves, and Boko would sit quietly, seemingly uninterested. It was when I put a call through a comrade abroad, who knew Boko well, from their days as staffers at the University of Botswana, Dr Kathleen Letshabo that I found the answer to Boko’s character and nature. In her counsel on how to ‘deal’ with Boko, Letshabo told me, “If you want to work with and enjoy Duma, allow him his quite space. He is an introvert...” Yes, he is. In small circles or one-on-one conversation, President Boko, would stand with hands cupped, seemingly lost in thought. Let him step out, before an audience, and Boko comes alive!