Nasha wanted to be President

Nasha with former President Sir Ketumile Masire and current Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe
Nasha with former President Sir Ketumile Masire and current Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Margaret Nasha harboured dreams of becoming president of Botswana despite the odds piled against her. In her biography, Madam Speaker Sir, she said cultural stereotypes, party factions and her enemies put obstacles in her path.

She recalls one day when she was addressing a political rally in Gaborone North and one man grabbed a microphone and asked her: “Mmaetsho, re bolelele. A gatwe o batla go tsaya setilo mo go Mogae? Bolela! Nasha says she responded in the affirmative and made it clear to him that she had all the qualities of being president. 

“I looked at him and thought to myself, obviously, this is just an ordinary citizen who has been drilled by someone to believe that this is a troublesome woman who harbours the unthinkable thoughts and dreams of one day taking God-given power from men. I decided not to be harsh in my response but to be direct with him while getting the message through to those chauvinistic souls out there, who think that positions of power and responsibility are the preserve of the male species,” Nasha wrote. She says the factions that prevailed prior to President Ian Khama’s arrival in the BDP haunted her for years. She accused former president Festus Mogae of failing to control the factions.

Editor's Comment
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