What's Happening To Tawana?
Staff Writer | Monday November 12, 2018 18:00
“Batawana, your King is under imminent threat of harm. Serious harm. Rise and defend,” read the post that came in early in the morning at 7:26am with his physical address at the Parliamentary Village.
Once again a question comes up, is it paranoia or is the man in real danger? Tawana has in the past made similar calls for help but last Wednesday, he took his cries to Parliament during his response to the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
After catching the Speaker’s attention immediately after the Leader of Opposition Duma Boko’s response to the SONA, Tawana spoke of how the State was still busy trying to kill his family.
“This State has committed murder on numerous occasions. The well-known case is of Kalafatis. They have killed a son, father and tried to kill another of their son. They were terrorising the whole family. They are trying that on the Letsholathebe’s family on a daily basis. I have reported this matter to the Speaker,” Tawana said.
“Ke lebitsa malatsi otlhe, ke re nthuseng ha. You want to commit murder in lelapa la ga Letsholathebe. Le bolaile! Le bolaile! Le bolaile!” he cried out in a frail and shaky voice.
Tawana continued saying there were rogue elements in the State security agency and he always sees their ‘movements’ and their ‘murderous intentions’.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, whose family is also related to Tawana’s, stood up and requested Parliament to stop live television broadcast of Tawana’s response to the SONA and expunge it from Parliament records.
Venson-Moitoi, who is also the Mother of the House in Parliament, spoke with authoritative sincerity, but did not give reasons for her request. She, however, made it sound like Tawana was not well and concerned that he was embarrassing himself.
The Deputy Speaker, Kagiso Molatlhegi responded by saying that he has duly given Tawana a chance to speak even though he sounds unprepared due to his disjointed speech.
“Ke hile Honourable Moremi sebaka sa go bua. Ene o utwala gore o ne a sa ipaakanya gompeino. Dikakanyo tsa gagwe dita dile matsorotsoro di tswa ntlha yotlhe,” Molatlhegi said.
But Tawana had a sharp response to the Speaker’s assertion that he was unprepared and disjointed.
“If you perceive me disjointed. I can’t be worse than the President’s presentation on Monday. I can’t be worse,” Tawana said.
The Father of the House, vice president Slumber Tsogwane also tried to remind Tawana that he was in Parliament and he is a paramount chief, so he must “choose his words wisely”.
Tawana, however, continued with his talk and ended with a song as he sung Malian duo Amando and Mariam’s Wily Kataso saying, “Now you talk a lot. Cause that’s all you got. You’ve had your say. Move yourself away, go away, go away. Go home”.
During President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s SONA presentation, Tawana left the house while the President was still busy and addressed the media outside on the corridors of Parliament.
Donning a peculiar black hat of My Maun Experience and dark sunglasses, Tawana condemned the speech saying, “There is no structure to this speech. It’s disjointed” before moving further away from the crowd for a lone smoke break. He took puffs of his cigarette in a very interesting fashion as he expertly blew the cigarette smoke like the way films depict junkies.
Conversing with the media on Parliament’s corridors on Monday’s SONA, Tawana appeared restless and his hands and head were shivering. He said he was “dehydrated and drained from spending the whole night in the bathroom, either puking through the mouth or excreting through other opportunities”. And he blames the State for making him ill.
On Monday he posted on Facebook, “We puked hard last night, the whole family. Our executive accommodation is a haven for Feral Cats and they screw the whole night. One open window and they are in... when you startle them they hide in wardrobes. But they are generally here to scavenge and because we share we invariably eat their saliva. We are now all sick, the whole house, puking violently. Facility management cannot be bothered, they would sooner arrange for an Executive Order to send you to mental. O a tshwenya.”
Last year, Tawana was reportedly bungled up by the police and sent to Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital where he said he was interviewed for about six hours.
Tawana is an independent candidate after he quit the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) in 2016. That year he also announced that he would not be contesting in the 2019 General Elections.