Mogae’s Gentle Power

I had the rare privilege of serving former President Rre Festus Gontebanye Mogae as his Senior Private Secretary and Clerk to Cabinet. Following his retirement, I continued to serve and help to settle him into his new capacity as former president. My close interaction with Rre Mogae exposed me to many of the personal attributes and blessings with which our leader was richly endowed.

His modest upbringing, which he readily shared with others, evidently laid the foundation for his close bond with ordinary citizens. Even as President, Rre Mogae felt at home with ordinary citizens with whom he would readily share traditional cuisine like thogo ya pudi, or goat head, well into the night. Managing my late President’s official programme was a challenging task because, if he had his way, Ra Nametso would accept to meet every citizen who asked to do so.

He was evidently pained by having to regret a request to meet anybody or to patronise an event he was asked to attend. I still recall the sarcastic comment someone once made: “Wena boss ya gago kooteng ha ke ka mo laletsa go bula toilet o ka dumela.” On the positive side, that negative sounding remark said a lot about our late leader’s love for the people he led and his humble spirit. May his humility be a guide to all Batswana in leadership positions.

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One cannot speak about President Mogae without mentioning his intellectual prowess and admirable ability to discuss any topic. Our late President was a fountain of knowledge, and those of us who were privileged to work closely with him reaped enormously from the outstanding consultant that he was. As I witnessed his commendable fight to reverse the ravages of HIV/AIDS, I could tell that Rre Mogae was not only appealing for help from other countries as the President.

More than that, his campaign to save the nation’s youth in particular was more like that of a compassionate fellow citizen, a patriot and a loving father who felt the loss of his children personally. On trips to countries such as the United States, where there were numerous groups willing to listen to his appeal for help, Ra Nametso would work well into the night to relate his message to everyone who had the potential to help with resources. May Rre Mogae’s name go down in history as a leader who saved us and our children from the ravages of HIV/AIDS.

Another evident attribute about our late President was his serious attention to the custody of public funds and his demand for accountability. As one example, every Presidential delegation list our supporting team recommended to him had to be put through a fine comb and was most often trimmed down. His local trips were no exception.

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