‘Kanreki’: 60 and still being young
BONGI D D M RADIPATI* | Wednesday September 16, 2026 10:40
30 September is Independence Day here, and 1 October is the public holiday that always follows. Paradoxically, this year, Botswana will be celebrating its diamond jubilee at a time when our diamonds, the mainstay of our country’s economy for too long, are selling less and their revenue is both low and unpredictable. Still on those two days, the country will practically grind to a halt while its citizens and residents will literally not stay in their lanes. Chance individual encounters will easily expand into long conversations, and cultural fandom will morph into civic pride. Alongside these, the country's traditions will flirt publicly with its modernity, while revelry and the sharing of meals and drinks will animate most gatherings, however small or large.
My recollection is commonsensical. If I rolled my eyes at another decade of Botswana’s independence celebrations in 2016, in retrospect I am bound to view it as a brilliant depiction of the country’s certain midlife at 50 and the midlife of those that were born at its independence. Yet, I predict that this year, the country’s 60th independence celebrations will be marked less by the glee of a specific age and time, and more by a collective recognition of something deeper, a collective rebirth, an inkling to see itself and the world with fresh eyes, and an outward gait more confident than mere longevity. Enter “Kanreki”, the Japanese word for the 60th birthday.
In “Kanreki”, the 60th year is a completion of a circle and automatically a return to the beginning. Given this, I want to suggest two things. One: That for Botswana at 60, its independence celebration is a recognition of the country having fulfilled its duties of nation building since independence in 1966. In other words, it quickly had to be a blast from the country of villagers, who were grounded in the practicalities of ordinary life that nonetheless functioned. It did this by building infrastructure, making policies, laws and institutions that serve the public, and surviving droughts, recessions, foreign upheavals, etc, while staying true to its peaceful and democratic nature. Two: At 60, Botswana is celebrating its acceptance that, despite its age and challenging circumstances, it is getting its second wind. The years of its past are behind it. While they will always enrich its collective memories, it is now entering a new, more soulful existence and performance. Thus, the country is not beginning its end, but rather, it is ending its beginning.
“Kanreki” is not just symbolic. In its practice, Japanese families gather together, the celebrant, the 60-year-old individual, wears a red “chanchanko”, and their elders formally release them from social duties and allow them to pursue their chosen work. This rite of passage confirms the completion of the 60-year zodiac cycle while simultaneously granting permission to begin anew. Botswana’s parallel to this cultural practice is its own traditional “Kgotla” system: a place and practice where the completion of a long public debate confers legitimacy and imprimatur to act as proposed. On its 60th Independence Day, Botswana’s “red chanchanko” must be seen as its revised National Development Plan; and its renewed commitment to the ambitious plan to re-engineer its economy through the Botswana Economic and Transformation Program that encourages new forms of economic activity and revenue generation. At this time of our nationhood, our youth demand to be accepted as the new creative class of coders, designers, programmers, and information workers. We, their parents, wish to live out our final years in a creative society in which our nation’s prosperity is both equitably and widely shared. Our working class, blue collar workers if you will, who constitute perhaps our largest labor force, still cling to the hope that our society is committed to a better life for everyone, them included. While the current time in our sovereignty carries with it tremendous challenges, disruption and difficulty, because of the transformative nature of human creativity, it also carries with it the seeds of their resolution.
If one was born in Botswana in 1966, they could expect to live to be 54 years and 45 years of that in good health. If one is born in Botswana in 2026, they can expect to live to be 69 years and 57 years of that in good health (WHO, 2024; Statistics Botswana, 2023.) This is a gain of 15 years of life expectancy and more than 10 years of healthy life in the country’s 60 years of independence. Unlike in the developed world, healthy life expectancy is rising in Botswana and catching up to life expectancy. Significantly, the average age in Botswana in 2026 is 24 years against it being 15 years in 1966. No wonder the country and its people still feel young, although some of them are 60 and older. One has to admit that those turning 60 in Botswana this year are in a good spot (I am not one of them), while those who have since turned 60 are their exemplars, and those who are yet to turn 60 (I am one of them), are inspired by those who came before them.
At 60, Botswana has managed to be a middle income country with plans to be a high income one. Therefore, this figure of 60 is not just a number. Instead, it is a signpost and metaphor of whence the country came, and where it is now fixing its gaze: upward and outward. I believe that in getting to a high income status, Botswana will be emergent. It will be so not because it is immature. While its human development has been written through its natural resources, Botswana is more than its rare stone, safari tourism, and livestock. It is its fusion of cultural consensus building at public fora that has gotten it this far. It is its dual identity that blends its tradition with modernity that has often made others consider it with wonder. And it is its peace, comparable fiscal prudence, and enviable governance skills that should see it through into the future.
As evidence of its rebirth, beyond its 60th independence, the country ought to engage in some form of cultural renaissance. It must recall its creative bent, harness it fully, and then start exporting its unique identity in the form of its village wisdom, fine art, literature, and fashion. In the past independence celebrations, the country looked back at what was built and achieved. Henceforth, the country must look forward to what can be imagined here: its homegrown creativity, inventions, and the range and potency of rural life. Where “Kanreki” allows a 60 year old to be finally free to pursue their heart’s desires, and to wear red to symbolize the glow and intensity of being reborn, Botswana at 60 can claim its position as a mature nation. It can do this by continuing to wear its blue “leteitshi” and other traditional attire, and performing its “borankana” and other dances both to affirm its continuing culture and the vibrant mantle of its sovereignty.
Just as with an individual, the country at 60 is not a mere chronological measure of itself. Just as with that of a human being, Botswana's 60th birthday is a celebration of the renewal of its stride and purpose. It has not always been the easiest time for the country. But, as a middle aged villager, my remembrance of it is that it has been wonderfully simple. All we had to do as a nation was to do something that we have been doing since our first independence year and that we had honed yearly for decades. We had only to maintain our focus and balance while, figuratively, we placed one foot forward in front of the other on our trajectory to our modest flourishing. Although, at 60, a person is often perceived as being old. Yet, compared to states that are centuries old, Botswana is young and has just completed its passage through the first historical cycle of its nationhood. The steady pace of our human development and our perceived youthfulness may be the deepest meaning of Botswana’s “Kanreki”: that after 60 years of becoming itself, the country is finally free to begin again. Happy 60th independence day to Botswana!
*Radipati is a regular Mmegi contributor