When Khama turns comic

What is the significance of jokes cracked in the context of an official speech meant to address serious national issues? There was an air of sombre seriousness in Parliament, yet the President managed to depart from the written script to make a couple of humorous and witty remarks.

It is necessary to dissect the presidential witty asides and jokes. Jokes are supposed to be frivolous and trivial, but they are not. They are often invested with an underlying serious significance. Jokes throw into question the distinction between the serious and the non-serious. It may be necessary to think seriously about the role of the jocular and the humorous in Botswana's political discourse. It is interesting that the President was able to graft witty remarks onto a speech distinctively underlined by an ideology of seriousness.