Meet Somolekae, the "agent of change"

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Friday February 11, 2011 00:00

Dr Gloria Somolekae, a politics and public administration expert, has been roped into the political cauldron of partisan politics. The 52-year-old woman this week became a Specially Elected Member of Parliament, leaving her academic sanctum for politics where she will not only have the opportunity to practice what she spent a long time teaching, but to fend off political salvos fired at her and her party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).

'I know that I am going into rough terrain,' she says. 'Politics can be bad or good. It depends on how you, the people, play it out. I am an optimist.' Those who know her, especially from the academic field, are unanimous that she is the best choice for the nomination to Parliament.

Says a former colleague from the University of Botswana, Dr Monageng Mogalakwe: 'She is joining the government and has to pretty much play by the rules. But I am happy that the ruling BDP is finally using the special nomination for its truly intended purpose, which is to nominate people with special skills to add value to Parliament. The Somolekae and Kenneth Matambo nominations were, in my opinion, good.'

Even so, Mogalakwe wonders how, being an open-minded person and a liberal at heart, Somolekae will be like in her new world. She says she knows that she will be faced with tough decisions, especially on toeing the party line.

But will she retain her acclaimed streak of independence? 'It will definitely disappear because I am now working in a political space,' she states.

'Back then, I was in a different space, but here I have to talk in a partisan context. If a decision has been taken at party level, I will support it as (a part of) a collective. I hope I will remain respectful of the potential and contribution of everyone, especially those in the opposition. Le go re re se kgobane ka mahoko and have lively debates.'

She confesses that she has no history of political activism, but adds that she is passionate about community issues and issues of development, gender and politics as a whole.

Somolekae describes herself as a change agent, who marvels at identifying challenges and mobilising people towards the solution. 'People who know me have expressed shock that I have joined partisan politics,' she says.

'Politics has a way of branding individuals. It exposes you.

But I will work hard with everyone, especially that I believe everyone in Parliament, ruling and opposition, has a right to be heard. If I will be divisive in Parliament? I will see, but I come from civil society where there is a spirit of debate and tolerance even for those you disagree with.

The former Kellogg Foundation programme director says she is happy that as an MP, she will be able to actively partake in the government's drive to eradicate poverty, something that as a civil society activist, 'we have been doing all along'. She says even though she is highly educated, she is accommodative of all thoughts, even those from the less educated. Her approach to life, she adds, is informed by the belief that intelligence is not determined by the number of degrees one has acquired.

'My PhD is not the measure of my intelligence,' she demures. 'I have a PhD because of opportunities hence I don't respect people just because they are educated.' The vice-chancellor of UB, Professor Bojosi Otlhogile, says he knows Dr Somolekae as a distinguished scholar with an interest in democracy and public administration. 'As a former UB employee, we really welcome her nomination to Parliament so that as an academic, she may contribute to development at a national level,' Otlhogile says.The BDP youth leadership has also praised Khama for nominating Somolekae, especially that she 'led the Election Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) regional observer mission to the Namibian presidential and national assembly elections, chaired UB Democracy Research Project and authored a paper on democracy, civil society and governance.

'Dr Somolekae is without a doubt a worthy addition to our national assembly and possesses skills and knowledge that ideally every legislator should have,' says its spokesperson, Thabo Autlwetse, in a statement.  We expect that her experience as chairperson of Vision 2016 should be beneficial in guiding parliament towards implementation of the Vision as we count down five years to our nation's 50th annivesary, read a statement from BDP youth spokesperson Thabo Autlwetse.

Nonetheless, some critics, from across the political spectrum, have expressed shock at the nomination of this outstanding academic into the political realm. A former opposition activist, who prefers anonymity, says though Somolekae is a hard worker and a competent scholar of politics, it does not mean that she will do well in the pragmatic world of politics. 'Moving from theory to practice is something else. It can prove quite a daunting task,' he says, adding that he was taken aback when he learnt of her nomination 'because I never knew she was BDP. It shows this party has long reaching roots that go deep into all institutions and organisations.'

Prior to her nomination, BDP faithful, whose names were bandied around, included Kgomotso Mogapi because, as the conversations went, she fought for the party and put her political life on the line to save the ruling party at a crucial time.

They were referring to the time when she stepped up to the plate after the BDP fired its popular Secretary General Gomolemo Motswaledi, on the eve of the 2009 general elections when he was the candidate for Gaborone Central. Many in the BDP were angry that Motswaledi was dropped from the race at the 11th hour, and were now noting that Mogami had offered to replace him when it was clear that the BDP would lose 'A itatlhela mo leganong la tau,' they say of Mogami, adding that Somolekae is a stranger in the BDP house and should not even have been considered because she is not 'BDP enough'. Interestingly, Mogami has told Mmegi that she is not bitter at all that Somolekae got the nomination.

'She was nominated by President Ian Khama and was endorsed by our BDP MPs,' she notes matter-of-factly. 'I believe that the President did it in the interest of the party in the same way I did in 2009 when I stood in the interest of the party. I don't feel that I have been overlooked. I have always contested for elections in the Gaborone Central constituency as a councillor and have never lost. It does not bother me at all that I have not been nominated.'