My bold proclamation was that ministers of scripture are by calling, apolitical to be of counsel to the rulers when need arises. I addressed my president and sensitised him to the fact that I would not be counted among his praise singers if there were missteps in his administration. President Duma Gideon Boko smiled broadly. My church has been a member in good standing of the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) since 2013. Whenever this coalition body calls upon me to represent it, I shall deliver a pointed message to the political leadership without fear or favour because everyone knows the role of the Church and what ordained messengers of God ought to do and speak. We must refuse to toe the line as pressure mounts to compromise Christ’s standards.
It was not the first time I preached to the nation. I did so in July 2016. Having lived in constant fear of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) since 2008, I read from King Solomon’s proverbial line; “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” and drew parallels between the state of Eritrea, whose 10 football team players, at the end of 90 minutes against the Zebras in 2015, refused to return home on one hand, and the happiness index ranking Botswana number 137 from 146 countries in the world, on the other hand. I pointed out that when citizens live unhappily, as the Eritreans and Batswana do, it is akin to perishing, as recorded in Proverbs 29:18. Even before I left the pulpit at Boipuso Hall, I knew I had invited wrath upon myself. However, I was unbothered because I declared the truth about the prevailing climate of fear and unhappiness, which characterised the period 2008-2018. Before Botswana commemorated its golden jubilee, my home was burglarised on the 10th September 2016, in what the police chief described as a clandestine operation by the feared DIS agents.
