President Mokgweetsi Masisi will probably go down history as ‘ man of firsts.’ Lacking as he may be, in quite a number of respects, the one thing we cannot doubt about him, is courage.

He has the courage of that rabbit which went hunting with the hounds. The courage of that Nigerian guy who tried selling fridges to Eskimos in Siberia. Masisi will go down in history as the first ‘ civilian,’ to defeat a ‘ famed’ military General in such a humiliating way, as he did Ian Khama.

He only did not reduce Khama from ‘ hero’ to zero, he proved him, a paper tiger. As things stand, Khama is just a toothless bulldog that barks and hides behind the owner. Lately, he has even turned into a Facebook evangelist.

Masisi will also be very remembered, as the first Botswana President to fly cows on private jet from USA to Gaborone. But if you thought that is daring enough, Masisi is now taking the ‘ mighty’ Anglo- American’s De Beers Group head- on. And he is not even budging or relenting in his demand for a better slice of the diamond pie.

Botswana is synonymous with diamonds as De Beers is synonymous with mining and exploration. What was, for all these years, a relationship only comparable to “Siamese twins,” is slowly taking shape and form of a bitter divorce. Word in the intelligence circles is that, De Beers has gone on the offensive with a well- funded information/ disinformation campaign.

The campaign is said to have enlisted services of various local and international public relations entities and assortment of information merchants to sway public opinion in its favour. On the one hand, Masisi has unequivocally made his government’s position loud and clear - an improved deal or no deal.

In his brash typicality, he has narrowed down the negotiations to ‘ take it or leave it.’ The fray has attracted diverse commentators and opinionistas, the latest in line being Ndaba Gaolathe, leader of Alliance for Progressives ( AP).

With brown envelopes now rumoured to be flying all over the issue, it is difficult for one to make a distinction between an organic and inorganic input. With the current fluid political environment in the opposition bloc, the line between political existentialism and professional thesis is very blurred.

Despite all the ‘ scary’ scenarios peddled by ‘ prophets of doom,’ Masisi has stood firm in his demand to reconfigure Botswana- De Beers’ partnership into a ‘ win- win’ model.

The current configuration is that 75 percent of Debswana’s production, is sold to De Beers, the remainder is sold to stateowned Okavango Diamond Company ( ODC). Masisi is basically questioning this arrangement. The question is, why is Botswana allowed to independently sell only 25 percent of its rough diamonds, why can it not be more?

Under this arrangement, it means, essentially Botswana has a single buyer of her diamonds, being De Beers. This essentially leads to an asymmetrical relationship, where De Beers calls the shots, because it is our only lifeline.

The issue therefore, is about enabling Botswana to diversify its clientele of rough diamonds and its share from Debswana’s production. As such, Masisi is arguing that the current arrangement is denying Botswana an opportunity to profitably sell her diamonds.

Further, he is of the view that, selling diamonds outside the De Beers system, has proven to be economically attractive, hence his demand for a larger share of output from Debswana.

In his element, Masisi has taken, his message to political rallies. He recently stated, “Besides the fact that the diamonds are ours, it doesn’t make sense for us to continue to relegate ourselves to participating in the rough space only. So, it’s only logical that we want more and we are going to get more.”

As to whether political rallies are the right platforms for this sensitive discussion it is a matter of debate. On the one hand it compromises the sensitivity and integrity of negotiations, on the other hand, it is a political decision that has farreaching implications for Batswana, therefore, calling for their involvement one way or the other.

Whichever way it ends, Masisi would have surely shaken Botswana- De Beers relations to the core.