Heartbroken
Staff Writer | Friday April 6, 2018 18:00
The two ministers from Serowe constituencies were considered frontrunners to succeed the then VP, Mokgweetsi Masisi.
Masisi was on April 1, 2018 inaugurated as Botswana’s fifth President, succeeding Ian Khama. It has been alleged that Ian wanted his younger brother Tshekedi to succeed him. Those close to the Khama family claimed that the deal was for Masisi to hand over the vice presidency to Tshekedi in 2016, but Masisi did not honour the deal.
Instead he launched his ‘#Keasekotama’ campaign which saw him convincingly winning the Botswana Democratic Party chairpersonship twice; first in 2015, and then last year. Masisi was expected to reciprocate by appointing Tshekedi as the new VP to continue the Khama dynasty.
Observers point out it might look like it is the end of the Khama dynasty, but there is a BDP elective congress next year and Tshekedi is expected to stand. If Tsogwane decides to defend the position he was bestowed with on April 1, 2018, it is believed that the Serowe West MP will win with a landslide.
Tshekedi might be heartbroken now, but he is likely to recover next year. The other candidate who was confident of being the next VP was Venson-Moitoi.
As the Mother of the House, she really hoped for an appointment on the gender card. It was also expected that Masisi would make history by being the first President to appoint a female VP, but it did not happen. Venson-Moitoi, just like Tsogwane, the Father of the House, has been in Parliament since 1999.
Others pointed to the Serowe South MP’s political maturity, intellectual prowess and administrative shrewdness as a plus for her to land the position.
Venson-Moitoi is one parliamentarian with a vast knowledge in administration, and the Office of the President could have benefitted from her wealth of experience on matters of governance.
According to her résumé, she is celebrated for outstanding work in government and governance issues over her illustrative career in the Non-Governmental Organisations, the media and civil service.
Some of her notable works include ‘Restructuring of the former Institute of Town Clerks and establishment of the Institute for
Municipal Management for South Africa’; ‘Decentralisation and Governance (restructuring consultancy) – Ministry of Local Government and Lands – The Gambia, UN Development Project’; and ‘Project to analyse the constitutions of 34 African countries to conduct a comparison on the role of traditional leaders’ in modern democracies.
With an impressive Curriculum Vitae, Venson-Moitoi was also convinced that Masisi would appoint her his number two. Apparently, she even kept saying she could not abandon Masisi to the late former president Sir Ketumile Masire and all those she was lobbying for her appointment to the VP position.