Merafhe pens tell all book

Staff Writer | Monday March 17, 2014 16:05

 

A close associate of Merafhe’s said the former army commander closed publishing deals with an unnamed company even before he started penning the book, which is expected to be explosive and revealing.

Merafhe retired from office at the end of 2012 after he was attacked by illness that saw him being in a South African hospital for three months in 2011.

Many will be hoping that the man nicknamed the General will give them a bit of what he went through, leading to his retirement.

Merafhe was also a leader of a faction in the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which is expected to feature prominently in his book. He also served 50 years in the public service from the days of the early police force, the Mobile Police Unit, which operated on horseback. He was the founding commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF).

Some of his experiences at the helm of the BDF include the South African Defence Force bombing of homes just outside the BDF Camp in Mogoditshane as they pursued ANC activists in 1985.

Merafhe was also part of the early army that was terrorised by the Rhodesian army of Ian Smith, resulting in the ambush that killed 15 soldiers at Lesoma in 1978.

It would be interesting to read about Merafhe’s take on the Chinese projects in Botswana. He has always glorified the Chinese’s role in Botswana government projects, saying they saved government money. 

There have been whispers in the corridors of power trying to explain why the General seems to be so pro Chinese, hopefully he will lay bare the truth.