Is Mma Nasha angry? by M. Lesedi Dintwe 24-11-2014 Well done to Dr. Margaret Nasha on her single but eventful term as Speaker of the National Assembly. Mma Nasha lost elections to Dumelang Saleshando in the 2004 general elections and was made Specially Elected Member of Parliament by former President Festus Mogae and also given a ministerial portfolio. She was to after the 2009 general elections made Speaker of the National Assembly. These are favours, opportunities and privileges that she has enjoyed and she must also have the basic understanding that in a democracy we need to pave way for others. I don’t have to mention that she is old and possibly that her brain is tired and needs some rest. She must let Mma Kokorwe take over, she must stop name calling and make herself meaningful and useful elsewhere. If indeed her quest is to serve, she could consider many options available to serve the nation such as village development committees (VDC) and crime prevention clusters to mention a few. But because she is after power, money and settling scores; such an initially well-orchestrated deliberate act has backfired badly. In her hard misleading and misguiding of unsuspecting average opposition leaders, she has managed to make them forget that during her term as a minister of local government, she was to appoint a paltry number of specially elected councilors from the opposition nationally and gave over anticipated specially elected councilor seats to the ruling BDP. Surely this was being very hard and unfair on the opposition. The opposition seems to deliberately forget the atrocities inflicted by this very same woman. A few years later she appears to be the darling of the opposition. The opposition has allowed her to use it to her advantage and as she mentioned during her press conference on Thursday 13th November 2014 that “I was overwhelmed with joy when the UDC defended the case and fought for democracy. My father had deserted me so I ran to the UDC for help. I am still celebrating because these people wanted to reverse our democratic gains and take us back to the Stone Age.” It was interesting to note at her press conference that she was accompanied by amongst others Daniel Kwelagobe and Moeng Pheto, both men who have dismally lost the past elections. The losers are regrouping against President Khama yet they have lost to democracy. Knowing DK, he will utilise Dr. Nasha’s anger to his advantage. Dr. Nasha could do with appreciating defeat so that she does not find herself another victim of DK. Dr. Nasha’s non-achieved goals of an independent parliament came as a result of lack of support from the BDP, a ruling party which is in the majority and is not in support of an independent parliament. The subject line was never the standing orders, the subject line has and remains that the BDP leader in president Khama did not trust Dr. Nasha and was not comfortable in a legislature that involved Dr. Nasha as amongst the key people. The BDP returned President Khama unopposed as president of the BDP in its last congress despite Dr. Nasha’s book which clearly was the launch of a fight against President Khama. Such a fight has been short lived by the BDP and that is the BDP we all know. The BDP subsequently, in continuing their show of trust in President Khama’s leadership abilities, style and policy direction, nominated him and him alone for state presidency. The BDP did all these well aware of the constitutional powers that the presidenct has and that the president will use. The same legal presidential powers that Dr. Nasha shed light on in her book. BDP faithful therefore were in other words authorising President Khama to act on behalf of the BDP. This is reason enough to ask Dr. Nasha to view her peddling of anger and hurling of her loud cry for office in public as an embarrassment not only to herself but to her family and her dignity. This was a mere act of validating fears and concerns that Dr. Nasha is angry for not necessarily being within President Khama’s inner circle. That she now wants to bring forth baseless allegations and empty accusations about the BDP leadership simply because she was not successful in lobbying BDP legislators to vote for her as speaker says a lot about the character of this woman. Though there is no doubt that that she has formidable gender equality credentials, her current behaviour however erodes all that and reverses the gains of validation that women can be better leaders if given a chance. One hopes that Gladys Kokorwe shall rectify that. Whatever her intentions, Dr. Nasha must know in full that her name calling tendency will have momentous implications for the rest of her life. Only days from the seat of Speaker of the House, she has turned herself into a fortune teller and some future prediction mistress. It is utterly wrong to blame President Khama for going against Dr. Nasha. Who will support a person who ridicules you in public when you share membership of a ruling party together? Who amongst us will support anyone who labels his or her leadership as dictatorial and intolerant? Logic has it that when one feels and experiences dictatorial and intolerant tendencies in a structure, they should free themselves from it. Dr. Nasha on the other hand wants to cling to such a dictatorial and intolerant regime. Dr. Nasha mentions that; “All over the world the executive is never at ease with the legislature. The important thing is whether a leader has the maturity to deal with such differences”, and she conveniently forgets that in a democratic dispensation the view of the majority always prevails. This is an accepted way of dispensing democracy the world over and hence referred to as a democratic process. I don’t have to remind Dr. Nasha that voting is one of the ways whereby when there is choice to be made in a particular matter and there is no particular consensus, then such a matter is put to a vote. This is the same process that made her speaker of the house in 2009 and hence the same process that removed her from the same position in 2014. What was being debated was how to vote, yes, to vote in a manner that the state president who is also the BDP president will be sure that she does not return as speaker. There is nothing wrong with president Khama not supporting Dr. Nasha and there is nothing wrong with Dr. Nasha not supporting president Khama’s views. Those are termed differing opinions that must be swallowed in a healthy and mature way and unfortunately such a pill is too bitter and sour and hence swallowed irrationally by this woman. Let me advice Dr. Nasha that her votes which were also opposition votes were in the minority and that minority doesn’t necessarily mean one is right or wrong but it only means that you are few for the same idea. Gladys Kokorwe’s votes which were at the end of the tunnel President Khama and BDP votes were in the majority and same applies that majority doesn’t necessarily mean one is right or wrong but it only means that you are many for the same ideas. When those in minority as in the case of Dr. Nasha seem not to accept outcome of this democratic process, it means they don’t appreciate democracy. We all need to be very careful of such people or individuals because they are often prone to a chameleons’ philosophy of changing the rules of engagement during the game to favour them all the time. Such is being demagogic. Such is the case of appreciating the game when it’s in your favour; being wanted and disdaining the game when it’s not in your favour; not wanted. Let me close my deliberation by congratulating Madam Gladys Kokorwe on her election as the Speaker of the National Assembly and let me also extend the same congratulations to Honourable Kagiso Molatlhegi as the Deputy Speaker of the House. Like many other BDP members I await for Mma Nasha to opt for an onslaught against us so that we may defend our party and what it stands for. *Lesedi Dintwe is a member of Gabane/Mmankgodi BDP Branch
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 15:24:33 +0000
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