allAfrica.com: Botswana: The Non-Diplomat At Foreign Affairs (Page 1 of 1)

He sits on his modestly furnished Francistown East constituency, his right hand fiddling with a black N-series mobile phone on the mahogany table.

A faxed note that has just been brought in attracts his attention. New Foreign Affairs Minister, Phandu Skelemani has just arrived in his constituency office at the Nswazwi Mall. He is known for keeping time. And he shoots straight. "I told people that I am not a diplomat and my background in the civil service is known and I tell the facts as I see them," declares the 63-year-old former attorney general. So how is he going to handle his new docket? "I would still have to learn other things that goes with my new job. That is when I will always remember how things are done," he says scrubbing his silver goatee.

Because he is now working with diplomats, Skelemani is positive that they will advise him on how to speak when handling sensitive issues. At the moment, he is like a fish out of water after moving from the familiar docket of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration where he was in charge of Justice, Defence and Security.

A young attorney who preferred anonymity described Skelemani as fair and independent-minded man who will not bend the rules in telling the truth when expressing his opinion.

"He has fearlessly defended the government in his capacity as the attorney general against all the litigations. I remember the case of the Bakwena chieftainship dispute over who was the heir to the throne. Despite the fact that there was a pending dispute between him and the retired president Festus Mogae regarding the recommendations of the Mdabula Khumalo Commission, he represented the government so well that the court ruled in the favour of the state," says the attorney.

"In my view, taking it from there, Skelemani would make a good minister of Foreign Affairs especially given his wealth of experience he would be able to perform with aplomb. He seems to have a good grasp of international relations."

A Gaborone-based attorney and opposition politician, Themba Joina describes Skelemani as a good lawyer. "He has got conscience in law. When he believes in a fact, he will pursue that fact without fear or favour. The good thing about him is that he does not act maliciously," he says. He says Skelemani can disagree with somebody on a point of law, but he would never use bad faith to justify a legal point.

Joina feels that Skelemani was suitable in the Mogae administration because he (Mogae) was an intellectual and understood Skelemani better than Khama. "People like Skelemani are rare and I don't think the current administration is a good atmosphere for him to serve under. If I were him, I would have gone with Mogae," suggests Joina.

So far, Skelemani has not followed the soft diplomatic approach adopted by his precedessor at Foreign Affairs, Mompati Merafhe. Skelemani grew up in the civil service progressing from a state counsel in 1973 to Attorney General in 1992. He held the position up to 2003. "I know the rules and regulations of the civil service having served for about three decades," he says. This seems to explain why he does not regard himself a diplomat overnight.

Skelemani says although he enjoyed his days in the civil service as an attorney, law was never his first choice. His first love when he graduated from Moeding College where he did his Cambridge was medicine.

Around 1967, he was supposed to go to India to study medicine. But as fate would have it, India and Pakistan were fighting at the time and he could not be sent to a war zone. "I was told to wait by the then Minister of Education, Ben Thema to wait until the situation had subsided. I then settled for my second choice, law." He was then admitted at the former University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland to read law.

He says his name Phandu means somebody who is strongly built with a strong chest. Because he was born towards the end of the World War II in 1945, his name meant a 'warrior'. He was born in Mapoka village. He was named after his paternal grandfather. He did his primary education at Nlapkhwane before he went to Zwenshambe in the North East. The significance of the name Phandu was in the beginning doubtful until he proved his indefatigable spirit in the courts as an attorney. He says he enjoyed his days in the courtroom. He was in his element when cross-examining witnesses especially those who fabricated evidence or deliberately lied. He says the stage has already been set in his new role as Foreign Affairs Minister. To those who say he is blunt, he counters that no two people are the same.

He does not see the value of not speaking his mind. There has been a feeling from some quarters that Botswana is supporting Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai who is currently staying in the country. "We absolutely have no intentions of taking sides and let alone interfering in the affairs of Zimbabwe. It is only that we want to see them (Zimbabwean authorities) doing something especially the release of the results of the presidential poll," Skelemani says. He fears that in the event things spiral out of control in Zimbabwe, Botswana will be affected adversely, hence something should be done to avert looming disaster. He suspects that Zimbabweans themselves do not see the problem from Botswana's point of view.

"In Botswana, a crisis is not defined by people running amok in the streets. To us, it is when we see the tension building up that we call the situation a crisis. Taking more than a fortnight to release the results of the poll is also a sign of instability," he explains. He says the duration of Tsvangirai's stay in Botswana depends on developments in his home country. "He is a free person. He is under no restrictions in his movements and speech."

He says that if Tsvangirai has won the presidential poll, he should go back home and assume power or participate in a run-off. Skelemani differs with those who suggest that SADC is toothless. He says South African President Thabo Mbeki has done a good job on behalf of SADC by mediating in Zimbabwe. He says Mbeki's efforts have resulted in amendments to the Zimbabwe constitution. He says that is why generally, the elections in Zimbabwe were this time round not marred by violence.

He says the main problem in Zimbabwe is a dispute over some results. This arose after some polling stations sent returns by telegraph to the command centre which did not match with what was contained in the verification form. Another contentious issue raised by opposition politicians Samba Makoni and Tsvangirai centred on the fact that the electoral commission has been doing the verification of the results in secrecy. He dismissed reports that SADC was handling Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe with kid gloves. He added that SADC has told Zimbabwe that things could go terribly wrong and that except Mbeki, all those who attended the Lusaka summit agreed there is a crisis that ought to be dealt with.

" What is the use of having results that are disputed? The results of the presidential poll have to be issued in accordance with the law. MDC and ZANU-PF have to be there when the verification is done as the law stipulates." He dismissed claims by ZANU-PF that there have been delays in releasing electoral results in some countries like Mozambique, DRC and the US. "Look, in Mozambique it was raining heavily at the time with communication literally broken down forcing some of the results to be ferried by helicopters to the counting centre. You will remember that the DRC is a vast jungle making communication difficult and with their case it was reasonable. With the US, the law is very specific."

Skelemani explained that Mugabe protested that he was not consulted about the Lusaka summit and that was the reason he chose to send his ministers. "It is rather unfortunate but not disastrous. Mugabe has also sent word that he was snubbed and in a way one can say he snubbed SADC if that is what he intended doing," he says.

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