Protect the child, not the molester

The Setswana adage that goes ‘Mmangwana o tshwara thipa ka fa bogaleng’, meaning a mother will do all to protect her offspring, seems to have lost meaning. It is not just the human mothers with a natural instinct to protect. A dog will kill to protect its puppies; a buffalo will face pride of lions for its calf, just as a hen will spread its wings to shield the chicks.

While mother hens are still doing all, even threatening with quacking sounds to wad off threats, more and more human mothers seem to be sacrificing their children on the alter of financial muscle or the pretext of protecting the family name.  Our children are under siege and the parents seem to have, instead of protecting their offspring, opting to protect the culprits.

We read about incidents where mothers have withdrawn court cases to protect molesters. A family member or friend rapes a child, and instead ensuring the culprit pays for the unspeakable act, the ‘family discussions’ take place, and the case is withdrawn. In most instances, the perpetrators are boyfriends or husbands of the mothers in question and breadwinners thereof, whilst in other cases, the culprits are uncles or cousins. Some are high profile community leaders, as witnessed by the case that has shaken the country and led to the rise of a social movement known as #IshallNotForget, which has taken course against child abuse.  

Editor's Comment
Inspect the voters' roll!

The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...

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