Khama wows Phikwe on encore tour

MQONDISI DUBE &
ONALENNA MODIKWA | Friday August 1, 2008 00:00

It was the usual hustle and bustle of Saturday morning business. But to some, this was no ordinary morning. It had a special significance. The President was coming to town.

From mothers with babies strapped on their backs, maids sweeping yards to informal traders going about their business, it looked like a usual Saturday morning.

As soon as news filtered out that President Ian Khama was in town, business came to a screeching halt.

The glimpse of the country's president taking a walkabout in a crowded New Stands location was a sight to behold.

Walking leisurely in his customary khaki outfit, President Ian Khama went about his business greeting hordes of residents lining up on Botswana Street.

The young, the old, men and women came out in large numbers to catch a glimpse of the president and savour that once in a lifetime opportunity to shake hands with the country's fourth president.

Security personnel swarmed the neighbourhood, usually devoid of any military or police presence on normal days. On this Saturday morning, the streets, usually teeming with young children playing, were deserted as focus turned to Botswana Street, which leads to the Ikageleng Customary Court.

The atmosphere around New Stands was electric with the women ululating at every step the president took.

Khama's entourage moved to the low income residential area of Botshabelo where hundreds of people abandoned their morning chores to meet the president.

The crowd was enthralled at the sight of Khama. The President took time to meet the residents and hear their concerns.

Some tuck shops near the Botshabelo customary court preferred to temporarily close as hordes of people converged at the Kgotla.

Meanwhile, the crowd that had gathered at the Botshabelo Kgotla was getting restless. Residents impatiently waited for the site of Khama who was still meeting people who had lined the street leading to the Kgotla.

The crowd was uncontrollable as some youths climbed up trees to get a good view. When Khama eventually walked through the Kgotla gate, deafening ululations erupted and some older women broke into song and dance at the site of the president.

The Kgotla reverberated with the high pitched sounds of motho as Khama found his seat under the shelter.

After the formal introductions were done, it was down to business as eager Botshabelo residents fired sharp questions at the president. The huge turnout during Ian Khama's visits is contrary to the normal trend of unimpressive and poor attendance at Kgotla meetings that are usually organised for the development of the town. Some meetings are postponed.

Many people miss out on the opportunity to express their concerns to the relevant authorities only to use the president's Kgotla meeting to individually state their worries, some of which were never brought to the attention of the relevant people.

Khama is approachable, interactive, down to earth, out going and always has an ear to the ground.

Nobody ever thought a person of the president's calibre could be seen trekking the dusty streets of any town with or without escort. But Ian Khama has shown that this is nothing unusual.

The arrangement in Selebi-Phikwe East was better in that people were made aware of the president's visit, unlike in the west where he came unannounced, catching people off-guard. Some nearly collapsed seeing the president opening the gate just to greet them. The strategy has earned the president a good name hence the impressive turnup because people hope for answers to their problems.

Did anybody wonder where Khama derived the many initiatives that he implemented after he was appointed the president of the country? He announced during the meeting in Botshabelo that he got the ideas from the people when he interacted with them while he was still the Vice President.

Initiatives range from the four Ds, establishment of youth offices in each constituency to speed up the application processing against the usual arrangement where youth compete for funding from the regional youth office.

There is also the absorption of the graduates into the government departments as well as the reduced period of time for getting assistance from the government offices, reduced instalment and no interest on SHAA loans and labour intensive works that would not be tendered for throughout the year to address unemployment. Said President Khama: 'I am still learning, so I cannot confine myself in the office. I should go out and meet Batswana.  

It also appears that people derive pleasure from seeing Khama summoning his officers to provide answers right away before the tightly packed Kgotla. This will be met with deafening applauses and ululations, while the answer will sometimes attract groaning sounds of disapproval from the audience as if to expose the person.

'We like this president because he is just an ordinary person and he gives satisfactory solutions right away. Not the usual excuse that the relevant people will be contacted.
'Right now we only found out from the president that youth grants will be processed at the constituencies. He is not biased and he has the interest of all Batswana at heart. He outperforms the MPs and other representatives by far,' said a resident.