Such politicians tend to command the respect of the people including their detractors even if to their policies or leadership style may have brought problems and misery their organisations. Perhaps the University of Botswana ought to be thinking along the lines of bestowing an honorary PhD on Kwelagobe for the service he has provided this country.
I had intended to begin this piece with a small account of DK's service as a Cabinet Minister in the late President Sir Seretse Khama's administration in the 1970s. Of particular interest to me was DK's work during the most trying times when he served as Minister of Information. This was a time when the northeastern part of Botswana was experiencing constant harassment and military assaults by the Rhodesian army. However, my good friend Honourable Botsalo Ntuane covered this in his good account which appeared in the Sunday Standard of last week on DK's life and career.
Having said that, perhaps I should hasten to point out that this article is a critical assessment of DK's legacy in the BDP and government. Its major argument is that when President Festus Mogae, Lt. Gen. Mompati Merafhe and others who joined the BDP and became MPs in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, they looked like progressive reformers and modernists. This posture and their position against corruption saw them trying their luck for positions in the BDP Central Committee elections. However, they stood no chance against the entrenched party veterans who were used to being returned to their Central Committee positions mostly unopposed. The legitimate ambitions and attempts of the new cohort was bitterly opposed by the veterans who derogatorily referred to their challengers as 'Mannyewane' ('New Ones' or 'New Comers') motivated by wanton opportunism and hell-bent of taking over control of the party.
