05 Apr 2022

Not since the days of the late Sir Ketumile Masire, Botswana’s second President, has the country known a communicator-in-chief with as good a set of oratory skills as the country’s fifth President.

MEK, (a now widely accepted abbreviation of the name of Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi) is an orator par-excellence.

Even his detractors grudgingly accept this. Among his many speeches, there are some phrases that stand out and have now become in vogue. Below we pick only three.

Ke a lo tsamaela: “Ke le buelela le bahumi…ke a lo tsamaela,” he had said when he arriving from the US where he met Comedian and Producer, Steve Harvey, who at the time agreed to explore partnership opportunities with Botswana with a view to creating jobs, especially for young people.

Initially some detractors used the phrase in the hope of ridiculing the President, but their mockery turned to good as many other people soon took it up, using it positively to announce or show their good works.

It is a phrase that has pretty much become a part of Batswana’s vocabulary.

The President himself appears to have accepted it as the people’s phrase and has even made jokes about it.

A few months back he was in Mmadinare where after addressing a kgotla meeting he gave the elderly groceries:

“Ke tlhola ke utlwa le re ke a le tsamaela, mme gompieno ke tswa go le kopela!” he said, provoking all-round applause and ululations.

Bonkwenkgoga ba Bodipa Meaning Disobedient Daredevils, but deliberately used out of context by his detractors, he had used the phrase to discourage people from adopting the same impunity shown by some people in some countries who were becoming ill – and even dying - after openly disobeying orders to observe COVID-19 protocols. The word is now used to refer to difficult and unreasonable people.

Lo nelwe ke Pula ya Masubelele: Coming at the tail end of his statement at the launch of the Botswana Animal and Traceability ear tag at Lobu farm, the phrase was an extended version of the national motto “Pula!”. In this extended form, it wasn’t normal rain he wished for the people, but plenty of quite, beautiful downpours. And the rain did come! BOPA