By the time you read this, the “government” would probably have revoked Kgosi Mosadi Seboko’s citizenship. A cool, calm and collected lady, the Balete kgosikgolo recently found herself in a snake pit after alleging that the government told her - to her face, that she will lose a land case at the Court of Appeal. The government denied ever having said so. Apparently, the government wanted to make a deal that Kgosi Mosadi balked at. She ended up winning the case but a week after that happened, the ruling party voted her out of the Pan African Parliament, apparently on the instructions of the government. At this point, one has to wonder whether any provision in the Citizenship Act might be invoked to revoke Kgosi Mosadi’s citizenship. That strategy is in the government’s playbook and has been used before with former cabinet minister, Pelonomi Venson- Moitoi, who wanted to challenge the government for the presidency of the ruling party. Suddenly, Venson- Moitoi, who speaks the classic Setswana that the government is never going to be able to speak, was not a Motswana but a Malawian. Interestingly, the previous government also tried using the same strategy with the editor of Sunday Standard, Outsa Mokone, whose parents came to Botswana as refugees from South Africa but had himself been born in Molepolole at the Scottish Livingstone Hospital. Adjudging Mokone to be a thorn in its side and in a devious plot to revoke his Botswana citizenship, the previous government claimed that he never renounced his South African citizenship. It is likely that Kgosi Mosadi’s tribe, who are of Nguni origin and only settled in Botswana in the 1800s, might also incur the government’s wrath because the land case was litigated on its behalf. It is more than likely that following the outcome of the case, the government has instructed its Government Enclave operatives to find reasons why Balete acculturation as Batswana and settlement in Botswana didn’t accord with both indigenous and colonial- era law. Thereafter, the government will revoke their Botswana citizenship. That is how the government operates and we strongly suggest that if you have a pending court case against it, then you should withdraw it. That is because there is a possibility of you winning and provoking the government’s wrath. Just ask Kgosi Mosadi.

BRING FORMULA 1 TO GABS

It is really good to learn that the Botswana National Sports Commission ( BNSC) will be hosting an international sporting event, the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, next month. The event will feature world champions, including a Jamaican sprinter whose stamina can only be culturally described with the statement that she has no gall bladder – ga a na santhoko. Hopefully, the next event that BNSC brings will be Formula 1 racing because Botswana’s main sporting venue – Gaborone – can host such event. The speed at which cars travel on Gaborone roads are no different from those of F1 cars. The latter means that the capital city has the longest race track in the world. Like all other race tracks,

Gaborone’s has obstacles in the form of potholes, rabbit holes, craters, wall speed bumps, litter and raw sewage. The added bonus of bringing the F1 to Gaborone is that our own drivers will certainly win against world champions. We all know what distance ( in metres) there will be between that Jamaican athlete without a gallbladder and her competitors. On the other hand, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have no experience of evading craters and rolls of used toilet paper while travelling at a speed of 180km/ hr in a neighbourhood with heavy human traffic. On the other hand, a Phakalane boy who is in Form 6 performs such magic every weekend with his mother’s Range Rover.

SHIFT TOURISM RESPONSIBILITY

Speaking of rivers of raw sewage that flow perennially through Gaborone, it might be time that the government put a different organisation in charge of tourism. By its account, the Botswana Tourism Organisation is doing its best. However, that best is clearly not good enough because BTO is not in charge of waste water. If the Organisation is going to ask tourists to visit Gaborone, then it must be in a position to ensure that Gaborone is in a visitable state. With its perennial rivers of raw sewage and resultant stench that hangs heavy in the air, Gaborone is certainly not in a visitable state. The solution is quite a simple one: the Water Utilities Corporation, which is in charge of waste water, should be put in charge of tourism - especially Gaborone’s.

BRIDGES LONG OPEN

We feel compelled to correct the record with regard to the opening of the three overhead bridges in Gaborone. There have been official statements to the effect that these bridges were supposed to have been opened in September last year and that they will now be opened in May this year. Thousands of Gaborone residents, some pedestrians and others out for exercise in the mornings and evenings, have long opened those bridges. We thought we would correct the record because someone might be asked, during a job interview, when the bridges were opened. If s/ he repeats what the official record says, s/ he would likely stay jobless if the questioner knows the right answer.