Khama addresses a bitter, hopeless crowd
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday January 26, 2018 18:42
It has become an official tradition for the exiting state President to traverse the length and breadth of the country bidding citizens farewell after serving the statutory 10 years.
Khama hands power to Vice President, Mokgweetsi Masisi in an automatic succession set up come April 1, 2018. Citizens are expected to dole out gifts closest to their hearts as an appreciation to the President after his uninterrupted 10 year’s stay at the highest office in the land. Khama also served 10 years as former president, Festus Mogae’s vice president. Circumstances do vary as the President interacts with the people across the country. Khama is expected to bid farewell to three different areas today, including Tatisiding and Masunga.
For instance, in the case of Francistown, which has three constituencies, Khama’s ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has two Members of Parliament (MPs) -Ignatius Moswaane for Francistown West and Buti Billy for Francistown East. The newly-formed Alliance for Progressives (AP) has a presence in Francistown South where Wynter Mmolotsi is the area MP.
It’s common cause that the three constituencies are in unison that the Francistown city is battered by unemployment, especially the young people who are in the streets, jobless.
Amongst the jobless are mainly young graduates who cannot be absorbed by the system as the economy continues to experience jobless growth. The three Francistown MPs could differ on many issues, but all the time they meet they all agree that the city is badly battered by unemployment.
Just last December, the city Mayor Sylvia Muzila speaking at the mayor’s ball, emphasised the situation by imploring the business community and key stakeholders to come together and address the high unemployment ravaging the city.
She made a vow: “In fact, beginning in 2018, all attention in the city should now be shifted to addressing the ‘worsening unemployment situation’”. Muzila said there are strong indications that the unemployment situation in the city and its surroundings has reached uncontrollable heights and needs to be addressed urgently.
“I know that there are many things that need to be dealt with in the city in terms of development, but the unemployment situation in Francistown is very awful. In 2018 we should all turn our focus on addressing unemployment,” Muzila had said.
Muzila’s concerns over growing unemployment are most likely to be echoed by the ordinary citizens as more youthful graduates continue to join the ranks of the unemployed.
For both senior citizens and the youth brigade, they witnessed the closure of the Tati Nickel Mining Company (TNMC) and Aveng Moolmans shedding close to 1,400 jobs directly and many others indirectly.
Mining was a significant player in the economy of the city and its environs and watching it collapse without any replacement to lift up the economy is simply akin to ignoring the troubles besieging Francistown. The collapse of mining has slowed down the growth of the local economy significantly.
PR Executive consulting economist, Sennye Obuseng had in the past observed that, “because of the mines’ linkages to the local economy, the region will shed far more jobs than 1,400 or whatever the final figure shall be lost at TNMC and African Copper directly or indirectly, will suffer a contraction in income and welfare.” Now, with the mayor’s voice loud and clear on unemployment, should people be given a chance to speak, they will definitely sing unemployment blues more so that the Khama-led government has not helped Francistown to attract investors to set manufacturing companies in the city.
Muzila told Mmegi this week Khama has been allocated a very short time to speak although she didn’t specify exactly how short the time is.
However, she indicated that she expected the President’s farewell speech to touch on issues such as job creation, health, poverty eradication, his development agenda, the fight against corruption, amongst others.
Even Modiri Lucas, who won the BDP Bulela Ditswe parliamentary primaries in the Francistown South constituency over the weekend, told Mmegi this week that his trump card during the party primaries was youth unemployment, which is also used by the opposition parties to reflect on the failures of the ruling party.
Since 2003 when Khama became the BDP chairperson, the BDP Francistown region was volatile until he handed the party chairmanship in 2008 when he became the State and party president.
Khama exits the State and BDP presidency at a time when the BDP in the Francistown region is still volatile and polarised by factional differences. The state of affairs is not really good for the party if they are really focused on retaining power and winning the three Francistown constituencies. Baemedi Medupe, BDP Francistown region chairperson told Mmegi this week that Khama would meet the party structures in Matsiloje after his farewell meeting at the Francistown Sports Complex where amongst others the President will talk about the importance of unity at a party closed door meeting.
Recently on January 13, 2018 Khama met the party structures in an in-house meeting in Francistown where he emphasised unity within the party structures.
“It’s true that whenever he addresses party diehards, the President always makes an emphasis on unity so that the regional structures speak with one voice,” Medupe said. Khama recently appealed to the Francistowners at a Kgotla meeting at the Donga location to drop the city’s sobriquet, “Ghetto” because the city is now much developed, an issue that he might revisit.