Sesinyi's book predicts anarchy if the Opposition wins

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Wednesday March 3, 2010 00:00

 

Author Andrew Sesinyi, who once served as president Sir Ketumile Masire's spokesman, predicts in his latest fiction book entitled Goodbye to Power, anarchy, looting, assassinations, abuse of government property, and more doom, if the opposition assumes power in Botswana.

Interestingly he gives the opposition the name, United People's Forum Party, which does not exist. Its official colour is green.

Goodbye to Power is one of the two books Sesinyi has published under his new publishing company. Undoubtedly the play would appeal to any Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) sympathiser as it paints a gloomy picture once the opposition takes power. Even the new president of Botswana's First Lady commits adultery in the state house with security guards and boasts to her husband. She eventually commits suicide in state house by taking a drug.

Meanwhile, throughout the country there is an uprising and demonstrations by the people, while the public service is also divided right down the middle with the army commander still sympathetic with the BDP top brass. He plots a coup with the blessings of the BDP, only for things to go sour when he attempts to be the next president. The army chief is killed in a shootout and the opposition uses a little help from the BDP president who had to betray the army chief for denying him the grip on power after the coup.

In the play the new government triggers uneasiness in  the public service as it attempts to put its own people in strategic positions and weed out the so-called BDP sympathisers. The victory celebrations also seem to be going on and on, using government property, including vehicles.

In an interview with Mmegi, Sesinyi says the play offers what could happen once the opposition takes power, from a local perspective. However, critics could also see the play as a BDP propaganda tool that aims to strike fear into voters who would not want to see their beloved country plunged into chaos if the opposition assumed power.

The play is delivered in melodious rhymes, as the author attempts to reach the same level of excellence achieved by the likes of Nigeria's Wole Soyinka, and William Shakespear. His attempts at using rhyming couplets, throughout the play, is quite laudable though at times the pressure to consistently do so seems to weigh heavily on him.

Sesinyi will go down in history yet again as the first Motswana to attempt to write a play with rhyming couplets, a feat he attained in 1981 when he became the first indigenous author to have his English novel, Love On The Rocks, prescribed in schools.