Commemorative P50 Bank Note Vs Politicians.

Thulaganyo Jankey | Thursday September 18, 2025 09:51

This is a tribute to both national pride and sporting excellence and features Botswana’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist. On the flipside is the 4 x 400m men’s team that won silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics. So what this means is that for a while we are going to have these athletes featuring in our pockets and wallets – for those lucky enough to keep a P50 note long enough in their wallets in these trying economic times. Bank of Botswana bravely decided no, not this time and asked politicians to sit on the ‘You Have Been Commemorated For Far Too Long’ bench. This time it is the athletes turn. Remember politicians want to be commemorated all the time. It is like they have ringside seats at the Commemoration ring. You get schools, stadia, highways, hospitals, clinics, toilets, water tanks named after them.

You can't even get a cup of coffee without it being a ‘Public-Private Partnership Brew Sponsored by Politician X’. I think the ultimate goal is to have a verb named after them. I bet one day, we'll have to start saying, ‘I need to go Politician Y myself’ instead of ‘I need to use the restroom.’

I suggested to my former councilor, who lost in the previous elections, that since politicians like things to be named after them why can’t we rename potholes ‘Commemorative Craters’ and affix the name of the councillor who promised to fix them. I suggested his name as the most appropriate. He promised to ensure tongue-in-cheek I die a slow painful death and suggested I be slow-roasted in a tanning salon.

Obviously politicians are not known to take defeat lying down. In their phrasal dictionary they do not have ‘turn the other cheek’. When a politician feels snubbed, it's not a small matter.

It's not just a skipped handshake or a name left off a plaque. It's a personal, historical affront on par with a national tragedy. So in the next parliamentary session you will hear all sorts of comeback plans. Their first move is a passive-aggressive press conference. They won't mention the snub directly.

Instead, they’ll announce a new, completely unnecessary policy, like ‘The National Plan to Review All Faces on Bank Notes.’ Next they'll start referring to the group that snubbed them in the most dramatic, veiled terms possible.

‘A certain organisation that lacks the foresight to recognise true leadership.’ The words will be so dripping with sarcasm you will be able to see tiny rivulets.

As usual people who are not celebrating 50 years of anything started complaining. You've got the person who says, ‘Well, I don't see what the big deal is. It's just a number. My car is 50 years old, and you don't see me throwing a party for it.’

As if their rust-bucket is a national treasure. Then there's the one who starts every sentence with, ‘Back in my day...’ and proceeds to tell you a story that has nothing to do with the current celebration.

They'll find a way to make it about a time when they had to walk 15 kilometres in the rain to get to school, and somehow, that's more impressive than a Bank's 50th anniversary.

An acquaintance who has faced more adversity in his wallet than any of those history-making athletes feels he too should feature on a bank note.

He says his face would remind people that you can, in fact, survive on noodles and sheer willpower. And that's something worth commemorating. This should somehow inspire the populace. I am excited about the new notes.

I’ve decided I won’t spend it no matter how silly that sounds given the current economic hardships. It's too pristine, too perfect. I will probably frame it. My old, crumpled, half-torn notes will be in a separate, less dignified wallet.

I will probably feel a deep sense of guilt every time I consider using it because the face on the note will possibly be looking at me with such trust, saying, ‘You wouldn't dare trade me for something as mundane as chicken feet, would you?’

(For comments, feedback and insults email inkspills1969@gmail.com) Thulaganyo Jankey is a Rapporteur and training consultant who runs his own training consultancy that provides training in BQA- accredited courses. His other services include registering consultancies with BQA and developing training courses. Contact him on 74447920 or email admin@ultimaxtraining.co.bw