Let us aim to win our country back, in 2021

Kgosietsile Ngakaagae | Friday December 25, 2020 08:11

Sorry, it is hard not to cut a morbid tone when trying to sum up what for all intents and purposes, has been a woeful year, for many. I received a caution, the other day, from a colleague, Attorney Owen Nsala, to count the blessings. Fine, I survived COVID19, President Masisi got Banyana Farms; Indian merchants sold more groceries than ever; COVID-19, briefcase merchants sold our government PPE’s at four times the cost; the construction mafia were unable to keep an African symbol of success, Simbi Phiri, out of Botswana, and there has not been another lockdown. Further, no one is complaining because beer is flowing freely. What more; the poultry mafia are still smiling, thinking they have won. So do the tourism, pharmaceutical, and other mafia who live on our recurrent and development budgets. So there is something for everyone. We are blessed.

 As they say, “it will end in tears”. And indeed, it ends in tears for me. There is no hope, for an ordinary Motswana. Until now, President Masisi’s rule, is simply the past entered through another door. We are yet to see that time when the happiness of a people is the sole objective of government. Until the economy is open to Batswana in all sectors, this discourse will continue. Until the BDP says no, to corrupt Indian and Chinese capital, we will not tire to remind its vanguard that, “fatshe leno, la rona”. The year, 2021, shall be worse. To corrupt, state captors, we declare war. I have said it before, and I say it again. From where I stand, all those who are in our country looking to earn an honest living are and should be welcome. They should not feel discriminated against, on account of colour religion, or creed. I still have Indian clients who have supported my business, and whose hearts “flow with the pure while milk of human kindness”. They invite me to their offices and homesteads and we wine and dine, together. No one should mistake my commentary for racial hatred. Everyone is welcome here so long as they are here to earn an honest living. State captors are not welcome, and they must leave. I was waiting to be assisted at a local bank today, and I struck a conversation with another gentleman on the queue. He said, “I have been following your commentary on the poultry issue”. I said to him that the issue is not that anyone should stop trading. Indian, white people and the Chinese, are free, within the law to trade in any sector they choose.

 It’s the corruptors and the economic obstructionists we hate. The idea is that no capable Motswana, should be obstructed systemically, or otherwise, from doing business. Our objective is not to sulk at the success of foreign nationals. But we must sulk at the corrupt success of foreign nationals in country because it is at our expense and the expense of our children’s heritage, which is fast dwindling. So, as we get into 2021, I say to all Batswana; “get ready to fight”. Get ready to fight the state captors; get ready to free the poultry sector; get ready to free the mega tender sector; get ready to free the pharmaceutical sector; get ready to free the Okavango and get ready to free the mining sectors. Get ready for a revolution. This country won’t win the war against poverty, through the palliative efforts we see being dispensed by the leadership. Poverty is fought by keeping our development and recurrent budgets at home and the most sustainable way of doing that, is to ensure that a good fraction of these budgets end up in the hands of, and positively impact Batswana, directly or indirectly. We are worse off because after spending billions of Pula’s on COVID19 responses, we still can’t produce PPE’s locally. We could not find a way of ensuring that Selebi-Phikwe benefits something from the PPE budget, in some way, because the focus of those in power was on the feeding trough.

My intention is not to make you feel sad over the year ending. Things are bad enough as they are. Imagine day care centre owners, who ran up year long rental arrears whilst parents home schooled, or kept children at home, because of COVID19 and the lockdowns. Imagine street vendors who were banished from the streets. Imagine the artists, mostly youth, who after a year, are still struggling to find consensus with government over their trade; imagine Bureau de Change owners who literally shut down because the borders have until now, remained closed. Imagine those who were laid off on account of all these woes. Fellow countrymen and women; we have suffered, but by the grace of God, we have come this far. We pray for wisdom upon our leaders, and that God may free them from the shackles of Indian, Chinese and Caucasian economic hitmen who own them. But the future of our country and its redemption is in our hands. Let us aim to seize our country back in 2021.

Thanks for reading my column. Have a merry Christmas, and a prosperous new year. Observe COVID-19 protocols, drink responsibly, and drive safely. Above all, thank God for the rain and for bringing us this far.