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Botswana: Mogae Also Made a Mark in Sports
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
ANALYSIS
1 April 2008
Posted to the web 1 April 2008
While outgoing President Festus Mogae has always been criticised for not having much interest in sport, the creation of the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture will forever be one of his major contributions.
The creation of the ministry has seen him receive accolades though some people felt that Sport should have had its own ministry. In the past, sport fell under the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs headed by Moeng Pheto.
After the creation of the ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, Pheto took charge of the new ministry, which has seen national teams getting more finance from the government. In the past, the national teams used to struggle to get finance especially for the international competitions. Some even failed to travel for some international events but this has never happened since the creation of the ministry. It has also emerged that after the creation of the ministry, Batswana have demonstrated that they have the necessary muscle to square up against the so-called big guns in world sport. Some people have attributed this rapid development to the high morale among national team players and athletes as a result of the formation of the ministry.
The Zebras are a clear example of how much talent the country has. Despite failing twice in their bid for Africa Cup of Nations berths, in Egypt 2006 as well as Ghana 2008, they have made their mark.
The National Under-23 team has also failed to qualify for Beijing Olympics but they remain one of the best junior teams in Africa. They performed well at the Sasol Eight Nations tournament as well as the famous victory of the Four Nations tournament in China. Mogae acknowledged in his last State of the Nation Address last year that the creation of the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture was a recognition of the nation's coming of age in the diverse fields of human endeavour.
Besides the creation of the ministry, Mogae's visibility has not been that much in as far as sport is concerned mainly because of his busy schedule. There is no doubt that running the country is not an easy task and he spent most of his time on other issues that affect the nation such as HIV/AIDS. Minister Pheto has instead been at the forefront of most sports events.
Some people have said that Mogae's successor, Ian Khama, has been making more contributions to sport development than Mogae, even though Khama has been more visible at football events including the launch of the Botswana Football Association (BFA)'s initiative, Football Development Appeal (FODA).
Moreover, he has always recognised the contribution of football teams by giving players as well as the technical teams cash prizes as a way of encouraging them to improve. But Mogae silenced his critics when he organised a dinner to thank athletes for their scintillating performances. He called on the Zebras, Under-23 national team as well as the 2007 All Africa Games participants who hoisted the country's flag high in Algeria. He even mentioned in his last State of the Nation Address that over the past decade the nation was united in excitement at seeing the senior and junior football teams stand up to formidable sides such as South Africa, Egypt, Cameroon, Japan, and Serbia.
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He said that the National Under-23 team made history by qualifying for the group stage of the Olympic Games, while returning from the Four Nations Tournament in China with gold medals. Mogae also went on to mention that the athletes did a sterling job at the All Africa Games and Special Olympics by bringing home multiple gold medals.
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