allAfrica.com: Botswana: Welcome Aboard (Page 1 of 2)

He ended his speech with the traditional Pula Pula Pula to a thunderous applause and, remarkably, it rained that day too. It was April Fools' Day and the weather couldn't have been any better that Tuesday morning, to welcome Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama as Botswana's fourth president. They came in droves from all walks of life; the young, the old, the elite, and the opposition, to be part of a momentous occasion in the history of our country and nobody wanted to miss it.

The country's cream of the corporate world were there; some with their wives and wives-to-be in tow.

Also in attendance were members of the clergy, Dikgosi and the civil servants, who abandoned the comfort of their air-conditioned offices to witness history in the making.

There was hope, and utter disbelief that a page was being turned in our history. The day had dawned and some looked up at President Khama as their messiah.

The ceremony befitted the draping of a King with a leopard skin; a rare commodity which is only reserved for the country's highly esteemed royal blood. The country's colours of Blue, Black and White were everywhere covering the cheap plastic chairs and also wrapped around the pillars of the National Assembly.

In his speech, the newly crowned President said Batswana needed to change their mindset so they could fully develop their talents through stimulating creativity and hard work, so they can contribute to the economic development of the country.

And this, he said, included the absolute need to embrace the realities of the internationalization and globalization processes.

The ceremony attracted just too many people and poor preparations became evident. The blame for this shortfall goes to the Organizing Committee as they couldn't have guessed that the event would be choc-a-bloc.

For starters, there were no proper sitting arrangements and one had to ruthlessly elbow himself and navigate his way through the hordes of people so as to catch a clear glimpse of the country's most important citizen.

Those with foresight took to the adjacent tree branches but for one unfortunate citizen, his dream of seeing the new president ended sadly as he was rushed to hospital in a government ambulance after a tree branch he was happily sitting on cracked under his weight sending him to the moist parliament lawn.

However, this sad scenario brought laughter to the faces of the annoyed audience whose dream of seeing Khama being sworn in proved futile due to their paths of view being obscured.

Like always, the 'King of Kings', a parliamentary socialite, saved the day when he came draped in his leathery attire sending many into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Upon Khama's arrival, the stampeding got worse as everybody rushed in to catch a glimpse of the country's first citizen. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. Those who fell short in the masculine department found themselves pushed back or, unfortunately, sprawled to the ground.

The men in uniform used this as a golden opportunity to push and shove people where they rightfully belonged; way back where they could hardly see a thing. It was a total fiasco which could have incited those with wrong intentions to start pick-pocketing on pre-occupied citizens.

"This is a hopeless arrangement. We can't see a thing and people are pushing us left, right and centre. I regret coming here in the first place. I can't see or hear anything our new president is saying," complained an old man who noted that he had woken up at 5 o'clock that morning and traveled from Mochudi so as not to miss history in the making.

Botswelelo Tlale said it was really disappointing that a day which was supposed to be joyful to all Batswana turned out the way it did.

"It's quite disappointing. I can't see or hear anything."

Sam Wulawula, 57, blamed the organizing committee for a shoddy job saying an event of this magnitude should have been prepared to its finest.

"This event is even surpassed by the budget speech. People failed to do their job and it's quite embarrassing that everything is just jumbled up."

Thirty-eight-year-old Molikiemang Sedimo felt that the event would have been better held at the National Stadium where everybody would have a clear view of the new president.

She noted that what was put together by the parliamentary gardeners was just a hopeless affair.

"Look at all these old women and men who have been shoved and pushed all over. This is supposed to be a national event and they have made it an exclusive affair. We shouldn't have bothered coming here."

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