Talk of creating a Frankenstein monster, the BDP government shortly after independence created this monster for Batswana in the form of Debswana. Let us not quibble.The founding fathers meant well. Botswana is rich in mineral resources, diamonds, copper and other minerals; the presence of these minerals underground were known long before independence; chiefs like Tshekedi, visionaries they were, feared to have these exploited then because their exploitation could compromise farther our precarious colonial status. Tshekedi dreamt of a day when we would be free politically to exploit these for ourselves as Batswana.
The dawn of independence brought the nominal right to govern ourselves without the economic means to do it to our full satisfaction. We were as poor as a church mouse; as the refrain goes, 're ne re le mo legoeleleng!' Since we had no capital, nor entrepreneurship we were happy to enter into a marriage of convenience with the De Beers Company, they had the capital, entrepreneurship and an uncontested market to woo us into this romantic and diamond-studded union. The prospecting phase having assured the company that the return on capital would be fabulous, De Beers was ready to guarantee us some prospects of an illusion of swift economic development. We could not ask questions nor complain when De Beers 'generously' agreed to a 50/50 equitable shareholding. Under the agreement 'Batswana' were entitled to dividends, taxes and royalties.
