Look who is crying now?
Friday, August 15, 2014
If at all Khama is a ‘ruthless dictator’ who detests the rule of law, then former president Mogae should take the blame for creating the monster that is President Khama. If Khama is a mess, he is a mess of his (Mogae) own making.
Khama is Mogae’s creation. Period. While Mogae may have been pressurised to a certain extent to appoint Khama his deputy following a report by South African political consultant Professor Lawrence Schelmmer, it was the then president who eventually forced Khama to resign from the army to join politics in 1998. In the process Mogae overlooked other experienced politicians in the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) such as David Magang and Ponatshego Kedikilwe to appoint the first son of the late president Sir Seretse Khama his deputy. For his entire tenure as the President it was Mogae, the self-proclaimed democrat and constitutionalist who defended and allowed Khama to do as he wanted.
While it is widely acknowledged that Khama holds the title of Kgosi, the government’s failure to properly gazette his recognition has raised serious concerns about adherence to legal procedures and the credibility of traditional leadership. (See a story elsewhere in this newspaper.) Recent court documents by the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse, shed light on the intricacies of Khama’s recognition process....