Strangely some Cabinet members seem to think that Khama, unlike many other presidents before him, should not be subjected to legislative scrutiny or any type of scrutiny. We hasten to warn that Parliament is a major player in our democratic system. Democracy itself is based on the premise that MPs, who, by virtue of their election, remain the custodian of executive oversight, are given due respect and recognition by other arms of government. The executive branch is supposed to, at least in working democracies - as ours wants to be perceived - make sure that MPs get answers when they demand them. This week Lobatse MP Nehemiah Modubule asked a simple and very relevant question. He wanted to know if and when President Ian Khama renounced his British citizenship. This is a fair question. After all we know that in the last few weeks thousands of Batswana discovered that they had no valid citizenship for the mere fact that they had not renounced citizenship of their parents, which according to our immigration laws, automatically renders them foreigners.
This is not an anomaly at all. The citizenship law is clear on that. It is just that people who are supposed to implement this have not been alert, and thus we have thousands of Batswana who were not aware that they had to renounce this so-called foreign citizenship when they turned 21. So most have been living under the illusion that they were Botswana citizens. You cannot fault them because to all intents and purposes they have been living as such. Paying taxes, holding Omangs, occupying strategic government posts, including Cabinet ministerial positions. The fact is that Khama falls under these unfortunate members of our citizenship. So one would have to think that the law applies to him like everyone else and thus the President should be able to simply reassure the nation, with facts, that we are not stuck with a President who has a foreign citizenship. Modubule's question is premised on the fact that only recently did many Batswana come to understand that they should have renounced their foreign parents' citizenship. Every citizen has a right to know this simple fact - that the President holds valid Botswana citizenship. Modubule for all his troubles should have gotten a straight answer. Is the President a Botswana citizenship? If indeed he is, when did he renounce his British citizenship, which he should have gained through his mother? It is not the business of the executive especially - not the Speaker - to read malicious intent in the question? However, we have come to know that presidential affairs minister Mokgweetsi Masisi tends to react in a particularly personal way to matters that pertain to the President. Masisi seems to project himself as Khama's personal protector. So in a way we were not surprised when Masisi flew into a rage. However, for Nasha, who we have come to respect for her independent mind, to fall into the same knee-jerk reaction to Modubule's inquiry is highly regrettable.
