13 Apr 2014

Knowledge about Botswana, which is growing constantly, needs to be recorded in a permanent fashion so that future generation can access it, Prof. Fred Morton, the Secretary of Botswana Society, said.

Prof. Morton said this in an interview after donating a journal on the history and heritage of Botswana Society to the society’s patron, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama in Gaborone on April 10.

He emphasised that history was an essential aspect that people should value, quoting the first President of Botswana Sir Seretse Khama’s saying that “If you do not know your history, you do not know where you are going”.

Prof. Bojosi Otlhogile, the chairperson of the Botswana Society, said they produced the journal annually that captured both the history and the heritage of Botswana. The idea was to remind Batswana about the origins of their country and focus on where it was heading as a nation and society.

Prof. Otlhogile said the major challenge that they experience at the society which operated as a non-governmental organisation was funding the publication. However, he noted that some members and organisations did assist.

Prof. Morton said the society had different contributors to the journal who submitted memoirs of their experiences.

He cited that their last issue carried a memoir of a taxi driver from Mafikeng who worked under cover for the African National Congress before democracy, recounting his experiences during the 1980’s on how Botswana assisted various cadres to get in and out of the country.

Prof. Morton also cited a student from the University of Botswana who wrote a thesis on Morupule Colliery. The journal, he said, could be accessed from Botswana Society office and had been published online as Botswana notes and records in a PDF form at the University of Botswana.

In addition to Botswana notes and records, he said, they were moving in to cultural heritage tourism, where they would enable young people to provide information on the cultural heritage of the country as tour guides, stating that they were developing a cultural heritage tour of Gaborone which would be a promotional venture. ENDS