Sir Seretse Khama’s vision of the development of Botswana: ‘A people without a past is a people without a soul’ :: Mmegi Online

In this first of a two-part series, David Magang foregrounds the need for Africans, in general, and Batswana in particular, to not only appreciate their history, but also internalise it and learn lessons from their past heroes and heroines in order to be in charge of their own destiny and be able to bequeath a well-founded rich heritage to posterity, something that would make them proud and walk tall amongst other nations of the world as equals.

In my 2006 autobiography, The Magic of Perseverance, I introduce Chapter Six with an epigraph in the form of a quote attributed to Sir Seretse Khama, our founding President, to set the tone for what is to unfold.

The quotes says, ‘A nation without a culture is a nation without a soul’. As rational, insightful, and truthful as the quote sounds, it is not accurate at all, a fact that dawned on me at a time when the book had long left the presses and now loomed large on the display racks in the local bookshops.

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