Gaborone speaks

| Tuesday June 1, 2010 00:00

 

Mmegi: What is your full name?Gaborone: Olebile Marakadu Gaborone.Mmegi: What does Marakadu mean?Gaborone: It refers to ant bears (Thakadu tse dintsi).Mmegi: Are you married?Yes. I also have four children who are now grown ups.Mmegi: Are you a religious person?Gaborone: Yes. I go to the Dutch Reformed Church. But I had been a UCCSA person until I quit because there were a lot of problems there.

Mmegi: What are your hobbies?

Gaborone: Writing books. I have written Setswana books like Setlhoa sa thaba, Moseka kgwana and Boleo.Mmegi: What informs your writing?

Gaborone: What happens around us; the daily problems and people's successes, strife and the portrayal of what I see as a writer in people's lives. It's like putting a barometer on the pulse of the society.

Mmegi: What is your view regarding the use of English as a medium of instruction?

Gaborone: People should learn through their mother tongue. Education must be culture based to bring out the culture of a people. Setswana had an advantage in that it was a written language with its orthography.Government must develop other languages like Sesarwa.

Mmegi: Where did you grow up?

Gaborone: In my home village of Tlokweng. I did all my primary schooling in Tlokweng until I left for Moeng College.

Mmegi: Then?

Gaborone: I went to UBLS, then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in 1969 where I did my BA in Humanities. I majored in English and History. I then went to do my Masters in Education.

Mmegi: Where did you work then?

Gaborone: In the Registrar's office at UB.

Mmegi: Is it true that you also taught at UB?

Gaborone: Yes, between 1974 and 1979. I was a lecturer in the African Languages department.

Mmegi: You were in school at a time when southern Africa was abuzz with political activity as countries sought independence from colonisers.

Gaborone: That is true. Even in Botswana we had the likes of P.G Matante who formed political parties. Parties like the BDP and other movements were formed with a view to achieving independence.

Mmegi: How did you get wind of this party called BNF?

Gaborone: In 1965 whilst I was doing my Form Two at Moeng, an article was written by B.C Thema, titled 'Beware of the man from Moscow,' referring to Kenneth Koma. I was curious.

Mmegi: What happened exactly?

Gaborone: I need to tell you that Thema was my principal at Moeng College, whilst Moutlwakgola Ngwako was bursar at the same school. On top of that my other school principal from my primary school days, Motlatsi Segokgo, was once an influential leader in politics (BDP). So I became interested in politics.

Mmegi: Let's get back to the Thema article about Koma.

Gaborone: Naturally at that stage we were curious and wanted to know about this man from Moscow; whether he was the devilish, wild predator that the society was being warned against or not. And when Koma responded to the article, we got more excited as he revealed himself, and what we saw was just a good natured person.

Mmegi: What was your politics back then?

Gaborone: I was a Botswana People's Party supporter, which was then popular in Tlokweng. The founder, Dr Motsete, was my father, Rabasha Gaborone's friend. The BPP even had a lot of councillors in Tlokweng.

Mmegi: Was your father a chief?

Gaborone: No, he was rangwanaa-kgosi or chief's advisor.

Mmegi: Back then, what was the extent of your understanding of politics?

Gaborone: I was young and my politics was mostly about the liberation of black people from white minority rule. I was a chairman of the Botswana Student Union's Moeng chapter. It was mainly about student politics where we were generally saying government should improve the quality of education in Botswana. I later became the secretary general of the Botswana National Student Union and later the president at national level. I took over the presidency from Bright Bagwasi.

Mmegi: When did you join the BNF?

Gaborone: In 1969.

Mmegi: Oh really? But some people in the party call you a newcomer who has no grasp of what the BNF is about. What is your take on that?

Gaborone: Some of the people who make those claims were not yet born when I joined the BNF. If it was possible you would wake the likes of the late Koma and Mareledi Giddie from their graves and they would vouch for me.

Mmegi: But why are they doubting you?

Gaborone: I was working at the UB and therefore was a civil servant and could not be openly active in politics.

Mmegi: I understand you once defected to the BDP. Perhaps that is why some BNF cadres look at your credentials askance. Don't you think that might be the reason?

Gaborone: The reason I quit the BNF then was that I had differed with Koma over some matter and felt I should just leave until he was no longer with the party.

Mmegi: It must have been something very deep and fundamental to your political beliefs. Can you shed more light on this?

Gaborone: He was at my home in Tlokweng and I challenged him on some aspects regarding his Pamphlet no.1 document where he talks about the party's need to exploit ethnic hostilities to the benefit of the party.

Mmegi: Why were you disturbed by this viewpoint?

Gaborone: I am a patriot. I believed what we must be for the ultimate good of country and not the party. I asked him how he would resolve ethnic hostilities if he was to become a president and he got angry and described me in bad terms.

Mmegi: What did he call you, sir?

Gaborone: A sell-out to the movement; that I am an aristocratic bourgeoisie. He said that I am a royal who was also gainfully employed. He used Marxist terms which they normally use when the want to demean somebody.

Mmegi: So you are essentially not a Marxist?

Gaborone: I don't claim any Marxist credentials.

Mmegi: Are you a socialist, then?

Gaborone: No. I read socialist literature. My library is full of Marxist volumes, but I don't want to call myself a socialist.

Mmegi: What political convictions do you subscribe to?

Gaborone: I am a pragmatist. Where socialism is right it can be embraced, as much as capitalism can be.

Mmegi: Would you say you are a leftist politician?

Gaborone: No, I am not.

Mmegi: What is your understanding of the BNF as a front?

Gaborone: People coming with different perspectives. I am one of the people who believes politics must address people's issues. Whether you come through a capitalist or communist approach it does not matter, as long as you address people's problems. Look at Mugabe in Zimbabwe, who claims to be Marxist. What is he doing in that country that is putting Marxism in good light when his wife goes shopping in Europe? There are people who have brought this country where it is, like the late Seretse Khama and Masire without claiming to be socialist or capitalist but they ruled this country quite well.

Mmegi: So in your view, what does the BNF stand for?

Gaborone: It's being run through policies; a social democratic program, that when we come to power what will we do; policies regarding water and others. This is what I have always told colleagues in the party when discussing the BNF.

Mmegi: What is your view of the BNF party school?

Gaborone: People who have gone through the school are destructive to the party. I don't know if it's because it's useless or that they are simply not an example of what the front (BNF) is all about. Is it about fighting after elections?

Mmegi: But I am told that the conflicts in the party are also caused by newcomers getting top positions whilst cadres who have been there are sidelined. What is your take on that?

Gaborone: Ask them whether being a front cadre is about shunning newcomers. Why should people be given an incubation period before they are fully recognised as members who can enjoy the rights of membership, like standing for elections. They should know that everybody came from somewhere, except Koma who created the BNF. He came with the idea and called the likes of Ray Molomo, Bathoen; they came into positions of leadership.What I see now is intolerance of people who are coming form outside the party. Ga se gore bone bao ba apeilwe ka pitsa ya se-BNF gotwe ke one ma-BNF a mmamma - It's not like they are the select few who have been created as the authentic BNF. They came as ordinary people to join the party.

Mmegi: What do you make of the BNF splits like the Palapye one that led to some MPs breaking away to form the BCP?

Gaborone: These people who aspire to be socialists have given a bad name to socialism. They did the same in Kanye in 2001 at the congress when Moupo won against Kenneth Koma's wish. Koma was fighting his own protege, Moupo. So you see, those who claim to understand what being a front politician were the ones fighting against each other. I think it's infantile disorder, as socialist writers would call it.

Mmegi: So you think they should stop wearing the socialist badge because it does not suit them?

Gaborone: No, it must not be used to discriminate against people because the BNF, we are told, is a front.

Mmegi: How would you communicate socialism to the masses?

Gaborone: When you approach a complex concept like socialism with a half-baked understanding of it, you are likely to poison your listeners.

Mmegi: What in your view is the solution to this challenge?

Gaborone: We must get down and work for people to address poverty. We don't have to wait to be the ruling party to do that. We can start as individuals or as a group and help people to demonstrate what we can do.

Mmegi: When did you join the BDP?

Gaborone: In 1984. I had differed with Koma like I told you.

Mmegi: Why choose the BDP?

Gaborone: BPP was struggling, so the only credible parties were the BDP and BNF.

Mmegi: You come across as a leader who has no need for a political party to work for people. Why did you choose to identify with a political party?

Gaborone: The BNF was my first home in politics. I agreed with their ideas like land redistribution, fighting corruption, poverty, looking after workers' rights, free education and education with production.

Mmegi: At BDP what did you do?  

Gaborone: I was not active at all. I used to be critical of it whilst there even though I knew I was treading on dangerous ground.

Mmegi: Oh really?

Gaborone: Yes, that is why I was sacked from the BTC as CEO.

Mmegi: Did you use the red BDP card to get to the BTC top post?

Gaborone: People believe that's what happened, but it is not like that. Actually the people in the BDP regarded me as a BNF person. The fact is I applied for the general manager position in 1985 at BTC and worked in that capacity until 1988 when I was promoted to deputy CEO until 1992 when the CEO position was advertised. I applied and was interviewed together with others. I was then appointed to the ire of some people in government who felt I could not do a good job, but I did a great job. So the red card played no role.

Mmegi: You quit the BDP in 2001 around the same time you were fired from BTC. Were you disgruntled with the BDP for your dismissal?

Gaborone: Yes. I wanted to expose the bad things that happened when I was at BTC as CEO.

Mmegi: And you went back to the BNF the same year?

Gaborone: I wrote a letter to the BDP to say I am resigning from their party and went back to BNF.

Mmegi: Some people accuse you of working with the Moupo leadership in running down the party. What was happening exactly?

Gaborone: There were some people in the central committee in 2006 and 7 who wanted Moupo to step down from the presidency. There was lack of trust, poor working relations, and then a special congress was called to decide the confidence in Moupo. People elected him in overwhelming numbers. This is where the maturity and understanding of the cut and thrust of democracy should have manifested itself, and it didn't. People like Modubule, Magama, Tafa and others who lost the elections called them unconstitutional. You don't participate in an election and call it unconstitutional.

Mmegi: How did you resolve the issue?

Gaborone: We called them after the elections to hand over as they were the outgoing office bearers and they refused. Instead they wrote long letters to the media and conducted interviews all over the place calling us derogative names.

I remember Tafa called us a Mickey Mouse central committee. They said they would make it difficult for us to run the party and they did. There is no time when you should suspend discipline or the constitution of the party to suit certain individuals. We applied disciplinary measures against them, hence they were expelled. It was not the first time this happened. In fact in their time, they once expelled the likes of Koma, Monowe and others for indiscipline.

Mmegi: These Temporary Platform comrades, do you think they have a personal problem with Moupo?

Gaborone: Yes. Maybe they have done a lot for each other. Before the Molepolole elections, I had told Moupo not to call the special congress, but he went on and called it. And he came and asked me to be his running mate. I agreed.

Mmegi: So how could you do that, because by agreeing to that, you endorsed the very elections that you were opposed to? Is it because you saw a quick opportunity to move up the BNF ladder?

Gaborone: They wanted somebody who had experience in management to keep a balance with Moupo who has a strong ideological orientation. The combination would help take the party forward.

Mmegi: What was your working relationship with Moupo like then, especially that you profess to be pragmatist whilst he is a socialist?

Gaborone: It was cordial. I even insisted in starting meetings with a prayer.

Mmegi: So you prayed with Marxists?

Gaborone: Yes.

Mmegi: You took the VP position at a tumultuous time in the BNF. How do you think you fared in that position?

Gaborone: We tried, but could have done much better. People who should have done what the constitution requires of them, didn't do it. Discipline cases increased. Some MPs and councillors didn't pay monthly subscriptions.

Mmegi: Some people say they don't want you as president because you failed to unite and lead the party successfully as Moupo's deputy. How are you addressing this challenge in your campaign?

Gaborone: It is sad that some people look at me the same way they look at Moupo. I was his right hand man.The leader dictates the vision and those who follow him run with it. My leadership style is different from Moupo's.

Mmegi: Can you exemplify your statement sir?

Gaborone: Confidence building. It's necessary to rebuild confidence on the party. The other thing is to remind people that decisions they take at congress are binding and have to be followed to the letter without fear or favour.

I will also concentrate on leadership development. We tend to work on management by crisis. We don't have a pool of leaders at wards, regions, constituency and other structures.