13 March 2008
editorial
As President Festus Mogae's term of office expires at the end of March, he has been flooded with generous gifts from Batswana.
That is not surprising particularly when the gestures are viewed against one of the major pillars of Botswana's Vision 2016, botho.
In the remotest or smallest villages and newly gazetted settlements that Mogae has visited, he has collected handsomely from villagers as they innocently bid their leader farewell.
But in the euphoria that accompanies the bye-bye to Mogae, and the showering of gifts upon the President, there is one thing that Batswana may be doing quite unawares.
The innocent and poor may be dispossessing themselves and giving to somebody who may not even need their gifts. They give just because of pressure from some quarter that they must part with their last penny for the President who is leaving office.
For all we know, some of these people are seeing and having the first contact with the President just when he is about to retire.
The man, with his full schedule, rarely had time to visit these villagers to tell them what to expect from the government during his tenure of office.
The same applies to some of the overzealous villagers who, in their obsession with fame, would stop at nothing to contribute presents to the president, and yet many of them never assist in just causes that are aimed at improving the status of the very communities that they live in by erecting shelter for the Kgotla or taking interest in the affairs of Village Development Committees (VDCs).
While one is not opposed to Batswana buying presents for their retiring presidents, including Mogae, they must be advised that their keenness to outdo each other should not make them oblivious of the fact that they will still have to live normal lives after they have donated generously.
It is regrettable that more often than not, the spirit of botho - one of the core pillars of this nation - has become its own undoing!
Just how on earth does one become so kind that he or she would give an arm and a leg just because he cherishes the spirit of botho?
Such is the absurdity that our society should not condone. Families have slept on empty stomachs. Others are impoverished because their resources have been channelled to some deserving but less critical causes.
It should suffice in some instances to say bye-bye to a retiring leader without doling out gifts that people cannot afford.
Today's Thought
The great art of giving consists in this: the gift should cost very little and yet be greatly coveted, so that it may be the more highly appreciated.
-Baltasar Gracian
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