Khama receives rude comments on Facebook By CHAKALISA DUBE Thu 18 Sep 2014 MMEGI FRANCISTOWN: A few weeks after being “welcomed” on Facebook and attracting 16, 000 likes, President Ian Khama’s wall has been receiving persistent insulting remarks. One of the Facebook users posted on Khama’s page, “What do you know about democracy?? You are terrorising us.” Khama’s political rivals have not shied away from labelling him a dictator because of his leadership style. Another post sarcastically said Khama was a tyrant. The person who posted the comment on the president’s wall through a biblical story of a lawyer and murderer ‘Saul’ who was persecuting Christians before God struck him down and became blind. He would later be delivered. One post read:” Saul, Saul, o re bogisetsang? (Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting us?).” Khama is now among hordes of ordinary Batswana who often endure impolite language from fellow Facebook colleagues. The president’s page was opened to allow him to interact with members of the public. It was also the first time Khama joined the social media following in the footsteps of other leaders like Barack Obama. Khama has also been active posting information on various activities he has been doing either as the head of state or Botswana Democratic (Party) leader in recent days, apparently to update the public about his activities. When contacted for comment government spokesperson Jeff Ramsay said that he was aware of Khama’s Facebook page, but has not seen most posts on the page. He also said that he was not aware who administered the page adding “but think that it is the President himself who administers it because it his account.” Ramsay remonstrated with perpetrators of abusive messages to desist from doing so “The social media has always been like (using language perceived to be rude and insulting) that in Botswana,” said Ramsay, adding that the situation was worrisome. Ramsay also said that he was not worried by people who aired their concerns towards the government or anyone in a courteous manner through the social media. He also warned that it is punishable by law to abuse another person through the social media. In less than a month the president’s Facebook page has already attracted over 16,000 ‘likes’ and hundreds of comments from Facebook users. Meanwhile the Botswana Police Services (BPS) a few months ago threatened to action against some social media users who defame, use insulting language, blackmail and even threaten others.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 15:03:51 +0000
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