Naming institutions after icons
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
He also noted, however, that people such as Masire, Mogae, Chiepe, Mpho, Matante, Koma and so on have been completely ignored. Keorapetse’s concerns made me wonder who has been honoured in the past by giving their name to an institution, or to a major project and what might be learnt from such a list.
Those that pre-date Independence in 1966 are the Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital in Mochudi, the Bathoen Dam and King George V Memorial Hall and School in Kanye, the Athlone Hospital in Lobatse, the Sekgoma Hospital, the Arthington Hall (now only a deserted shell) and the Ruth Khama Hall all being in Serowe, the Hands Memorial Hall (a mere shell) in Mahalapye, and the Lady Liesching Clinic in Gaborone (now de-listed). After Independence comes another cluster – the Princess Marina Hospital and the Julia Molefhe Clinic, in Gaborone, the Ben Thema Primary School, and then, more recently, the three schools in Gaborone, Livingstone Kolobeng, Phillip Moshotle Memorial School, and Solomon Dihutso.
“A genuine leader is not a searcherfor consensus but a molder of consensus.”–Martin Luther King Jr.Personality wars at Gaborone City Council (GCC), Palapye District Council and recently at Francistown City Council are holding back developments as civic leaders are increasingly consumed by internal power struggles, personality clashes and political factionalism. The latest developments at the GCC are particularly troubling. The postponement...