In my neighbourhood, everything was normal: kids played in front of their houses, an inconsistent trickle of cars drove past, one, two, three people walked to and fro past my house, my housemates slept and woke up in time for repeats of their favourite shows. Everything was just typical of a sluggish start to a Gaborone weekend, or perhaps a lethargic morning-after following a hectic Thursday night. Nothing illustrated that this Friday was a special day, a day in which, as it has been drummed into us from our primary school days, we should observe as a celebration and a reflection of how far we have come, and how far we are yet to go as a republic. Nothing showed that last Friday was the 45th Anniversary of our independence as a country.
The token decorations in the Botswana flag colours strung on a rope across two street lamp posts on Independence Avenue were the first demonstration of the significance of the day. The black, blue and white "triangles" stirred lazily above the street, which was as deserted as many others in the city. The decorations are not that different from those that the city council puts up when dignitaries from other countries visit. Despite this, for some years now, they have become the solitary symbol, in the city at least, of the commemoration of Independence Day. The decorations fall far below what one would expect a nation would come up with to celebrate the day they gained independence - especially for 45 years of independence - in which a country has been largely peaceful, economically sound and garnered many international admirers. The decorations seem somewhat perfunctory, like somebody remembered them on Independence eve, and hastened to put them up; they are after all, just blue, black and white triangles fluttering above a deserted city.
