“Bechuanaland: An impoverished, arid and hungry land without hope of achieving economic stability makes its debut this week among the community of nations. The new blue, white and black flags are flying everywhere in Gaborone, its incongruous capital city. But elsewhere in the vast, trackless wasteland that will take the name of Botswana, there is little to celebrate. Two years of disastrous drought and crop failure have brought havoc and hunger to its widely scattered agricultural inhabitants. More than one-fifth of the population is literally being kept alive by emergency feeding and numbers are rapidly increasing…”
Charles King, Southern Africa News Service in Gaborone 28 September 1966
Great BoTswana: The land-linked, diamond success, very peaceful and united nation with a population of about 2 million people – from several ethnic groups – including the often manifestly unappreciated, undervalued, and unrecognised first inhabitants of southern Afrika, the BaSarwa, turns 50 years this week as an independent nation. Following the imperialistic: social, political, cultural, and economic interferences by the European immigrants, to the fairly peaceful pre-colonial lives of the very self-sufficient and intelligent natives. The blue, black and white flags are flying everywhere in Gaborone, its felicitous capital city. Equally, in the remote farming villages, major villages, and mining towns, are the sky-coloured celebrations: epitomised by the Golden Jubilee roving torch. Some of the tribes – with the BaSarwa (themselves made up of various ethnic groups) – that collectively, are known as the BaTswana, include: the BaSubiya; BaTlhaping; WaYei; OvaHerero; HaMbukushu; BaMalete.
The democracy in the country is strong and stable due to the post-independence founding forefathers: Sir Seretse Khama and Sir Ketumile Masire’s adaptation of prudent policies. Amid the semi-arid and drought-prone Kgalagadi Desert, the country is widely accepted to be an upper middle-income nation. However, it is also the third most iniquitous unequal nation and residual poverty remains prevalent, particularly in the remote areas of the country. Owing to this, a two-tier (even more) society has emerged: those who benefit through a sustainable economic and human development, and those who only benefit from a humanitarian aid and disaster relief mechanism.
As the country looks forward – post 50 years of the rightly reclaimed independence – it is very necessary: to borrow a phrase from the great son of the soil, Nelson Mandela, ’’to take a moment to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds us, to look back on the distance we have come. But we can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and we dare not linger, for our long walk is not yet ended.’’
Blessing Kgosietsile Kgasa, in London 28 September 2016
Master of Research in International Development Student
University of Bath, England
Blessing Kgosi e tsile Kgasa 