Masisi in quotes: Khama, Tsogwane
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I INITIATED RECONCILIATION – MASISI
“I am a peace-loving person. I would welcome reconciliation at any time. In Fact, I am the initiator of every attempt to reconcile. Before this became public and I thought this have been known by all of you. Early on when I saw deliberate undermining by my predecessor, I quietly without discussing with my cabinet approached five gentlemen; Former President Fetus Mogae, former Vice-President Ponatshego Kedikilwe, late Former Speaker Ray Molomo, Former Speaker Patrick Balopi and Former cabinet Minister David Magang. I asked for help from them and my help was very clear. I told them that my predecessor seems unhappy about some things and I told them what I thought he was unhappy about. I asked them to see him on my behalf and for him to share as freely and open as he can on what he is unhappy about. To cut the long story short their first attempts to see him were a bit difficult due to postponements but eventually they met and he put down his issues ,they came back to me and I responded to those complaints and all along they said he was insisting on seeing me. Fast forward he then said the gentlemen are taking sides and he was no longer interested so that kind of quieted him down. Then he selected three; Satar Dada, Charles Tibone and Former ambassador Joe Legwaila. They asked to see me so I saw them. They went to see him and came back to see me. Fast forward he rejected and said they are taking sides with me. Then Magosi Elias who was then the permanent secretary to the president and Peter Magosi the Director General of DIS came to see me in attempt also to broker a common understanding. My first reaction I was annoyed and I scolded them. I told them that they are mere civil servants so they do not have any business of interfering between presidents. They came back pleading to facilitate for meetings and I calmed down and we talked about it. They went to Khama and came back to me and I finally agreed to the meeting and the condition was that he must stop attacking me in Public, he made the promise to stop but then he went to Serowe and broke the promise he made. We then set another day to meet but when the day came he then said he is going to attend Isaac Makwala’s Wedding.” Said Masisi.
I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO KILL A PERSON- MASISI
“It is not my fault that he is charged. I didn’t cause it, he also says that I have authored those charges. I didn’t even know a president can author a charge or an investigation or place guns somewhere. I know so much less about guns and he does. As for this ludicrous accession that he is being poisoned! But what’s interesting is he is thorough in the detailing of how to poison. It is like reading science fiction. I don’t know how to kill a person, I have never killed a person, I have never even attempted to kill a person so some of these things are very sad.”
MASISI DISMISSES TSHEKEDI AS A MEDIATOR
“He then goes around the world saying that he has sent his brother Tshekedi to come speak to me. What do I do with his brother? Because his brother does not do anything to me. His poor brother, the cry baby came crying to my house saying that he is leaving the BDP. He actually started crying here at the BDP, then proceeded to the PSP house crying then went to my residence still crying. He said he is leaving the party because of his brother.
Those kids must just behave themselves. When his sister passed on he said I prevented him from coming to Botswana. Now that he claims to be coming to Botswana Soon, what stopped him from coming for his Sister’s burial?”
KHAMA WAS THE MOST PROBLEMATIC LEADER WE HAVE EVER HAD – MASISI
“A very few of you know the problem we were dealing with. He was the most difficult leader of this party we have ever had, the most problematic and the most entitled. But he better know that enough is enough and he better stop. Plus he alleges that he has left the party, I fired him from the party! He is not telling the truth, ask him to show you the letter I wrote to him. I had to fire him just so we might enjoy peace. The man just better grow up. I have kept quiet for a long time. I will sort him out like he has never been sorted out. We speak peace but ever since Shoshong political rally he has been going to the UN and telling a lot of lies”.
MASISI STICKS TO TSOGWANE AS VP
“There are reports that I prefer some candidates and I am glad that they are only reports. There is no one candidate that I prefer over another. I want to reprimand those that spread the reports. I know the individuals though.
How long has Tsogwane been VP? Since 2018. I have no hesitation in my choice. He is doing a very good job and I am very comfortable with our Vice-president. We actually get along, we work closely together at a party level and the government. We respect each other deeply. Slumber is my Vice-President and there is no vacancy. Also I am so comfortable with my choice that if anything was to happen to me, I am happy with Slumber being president and running this country. He will be my President. He got elected twice as Vice-President; the first time in 2018 when I elected him then the second time when he won his constituency after 2019 general elections.
It’s not true that I prefer Mma Serame over Tsogwane for vice-presidency .I have preferred Mma Serame among many other people to join parliament because I put her name forward to be elected like I did for those who were elected and I felt short changed because there were only six positions available. I personally would really be happy if there were more opportunities and I would have put more women for the specially elected parliamentary seats.
Anyone that prefers to stand for primary elections are free to do so. It’s none of my business Masisi.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.