Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

The reality though, an arrogant display of wilful political divide which walked unsuspecting members into a new culture of exclusion and hierarchy.

The architects of the retreat CAVA – a shadowy faction in this long season of political unease – delivered a rendition of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD)’s Bobonong Congress, but without dogs. Fully clad security guards manning meshed barricades blocked all entry points and turned away a poor, docile and inoffensive membership. The regimented occasion served as an instrument of suppression against those that sought to express contrary views. The romanticised channelling akin to that of cattle hurried into a crush began with a tedious process of accreditation kilometres away from the main venue.