That is Sedition!... That is the Truth!

One of my favorite movies growing up was The Last of the Mohicans. If you are unfamiliar, it is based on the historical novel of the same name about the French and Indian War and the use of Native Americans by the French and British Armies.  If you are not up on your history, here’s the Cliff Notes: the French and the British fought each other from 1754 to 1763 for control of North America.  Since neither the French nor the British knew the continent all that well they used American Indians as informants in an effort to outmaneuver each another. Obviously the British won which is why we don’t speak French. Moving on…

As I was saying my favorite movie was The Last of the Mohicans.  My brother’s favorite movie is equally cerebral, thus proving we are related: Dumb and Dumber.  In The Last of the Mohicans there is a scene where one of the Native American informants is arguing with a British army officer.  The British officer didn’t like that the Mohican was questioning his judgment and shouted, “That is Sedition!”  The Mohican responded, “That is the Truth!”

Sedition is a word which is seldom, if ever heard in developed, western countries.  Sedition involves speaking out against a political ruler (or nation) and encouraging others to rebel as well.  In the U.S. we have freedom of speech (or freedom of expression), so we can voice our opinions regardless of whether they are in opposition to authority figures. We have freedom of assembly, so people can gather together and protest.  We have freedom of the press, so the media can report without fear of legal repercussions.  There are countless examples every day of acts which could be considered seditious, but in reality they aren’t.  That is the benefit of being American.

Botswana is different.  Botswana recently arrested a newspaper editor and charged him with sedition.  The paper ran a story stating that President Khama had been involved in a car accident and apparently compensated the other driver by giving him a new Jeep.  And what is seditious about this?  I don’t know either.  Here is the article if you would like to read it.  Seems pretty straightforward if you ask me.

I will say the one thing I found curious about the article is that, “…while someone is holding the office of president and during his tenure, no civil or criminal proceedings can be instituted against them.”  Hmmm… that is unsettling.  And it reminds me a lot of our evil dictator to the north, President Mugabe of Zimbabwe.  At 90, you would think Mugabe would have retired by now, particularly since he’s been at the helm 34 years.  Of course, that will never happen.  He must die in office.  If he retires he will either be tried by The Hague for human rights violations or his own people will kill him for all the suffering he’s put them through.

Back to Botswana, I have to say, I am disappointed.  Botswana has been the shining beacon of hope for Africa for decades.  It is the only consistently stable democracy which has never had any major problems, aside from HIV/AIDs and poverty, but then again, you can’t change the weather. Of course, there was that issue with the student elections which demonstrated the government is more corrupt than people give them credit for. I do hope this sedition situation is an outlier and not a sign that Botswana is moving the way of many of the other African countries (i.e. dictatorships).  This is yet one more thing that reminds me why I am proud to be an American.

Grand Opening!

As reported in the Thursday, March 20^th edition of the Mmegi Newspaper:

“President Khama will be present this morning during the grand opening celebration for the Phelan Building in Downtown Gaborone.  The new Phelan Building is located adjacent to Barney’s and Macy’s, and within walking distance of Louis Vuitton.  Remarks are expected from the guest of honor, Dr. Phelan herself, along with other prominent members of the community including the Botswana Defense Force, her esteemed driving instructor, and the stranger who once gave her a ride home from her Setswana lessons.  Speeches are scheduled to last approximately 10 minutes, thus in reality they will last a minimum of an hour- if we’re lucky!”

The Curse of Modern Technology

I know I’ve mentioned several times before that we’ve been having lots of power failures across Botswana.  Today when I went to work the campus had electricity.  Midway through my lecture we lost power.  By the time I finished teaching an hour later we still had no electricity.  Rather than sit in my dark, very hot office I decided to head home.

As I was on my way out of the building I saw a line of cars waiting at the boom gate.  Africa takes security very seriously, though in most cases I feel that the security measures are either a total joke, or more likely to threaten my well-being.  I highly doubt many students have cars, especially since it seems like all of them are currently taking their driving lessons.  But in order to keep the campus more “safe” and avoid unwanted and unauthorized cars, we have these electronic gates all over the place so only the faculty may park.  Do you see where I’m headed with this story?

So, the electricity went off and everyone rushed to leave campus.  Only to discover that…. The electronic gates won’t open when there is no power!  Thus, they CAN’T leave campus:

Some days I wish I had a vehicle here.  Today was not one of those days.

Louis Vuitton in Africa

There are certain things you just don’t expect to see in Africa… snow, sushi, polar bears.  Another thing you don’t really expect to see are high end luxury brands.

Until recently Africa operated on a 100% cash system.  Many places still do.  When I travelled to Uganda I had to pay cash for everything, even my hotel rooms.  Sierra Leone was even more of a challenge because there wasn’t a single ATM in the country.  I was never entirely comfortable when I arrived at the airport (at night, with no electricity) with five thousand dollars stuffed in my pants.

But some of the more prosperous countries have finally begun to adopt credit.  I think I’ve only used an ATM to retrieve cash here in Botswana about half a dozen times because I charge everything.  You can see the repercussions, for better or for worse, in the new homes that people are building and the clothes they wear.

My first week here I attended a conference.  The Post Master was talking about Louis Vuitton.  I was shocked he was familiar with such an expensive brand.  There are no luxury retailers here in Botswana, but people are familiar with certain names from television, celebrities, and availability in South Africa.  The Post Master went on to explain, “I have no idea why they call it Italian leather.  That is a lie.  There is no such thing as Italian leather.  It is Setswana leather.  They don’t raise cows in Italy!  They buy OUR cows and make them into handbags and call them ITALIAN!”

I can’t claim to know the truth about the Italian leather/ Setswana leather debate.  But one thing is for sure, the Batswana like more than Louis Vuitton handbags.  Today I was leaving my office on campus and here was a car sitting in the parking lot:

As you can see it is a Volkswagen (“It is a German car! And they are claiming it is Italian?!”) with Louis Vuitton embellishments.  Make sure you look closely, because even the rims have the LV signature design.  That is definitely one thing I could have never guessed I would see here.

Police Report: White Woman Causes Accident on Shashe Rd

It’s really hard to be popular.  I’ve mentioned before my attempts to blend in here in Botswana have been ill received.  White people in Africa are sort of like unicorns.  You hear about them, but you can go your entire life without actually seeing one in real life.  So when you do see one you have to seize the opportunity. For Rra Mmanokowa, he finally saw his unicorn/lekogwa/white person last week.

I do not own a car, so I typically walk everywhere, take a combi, or occasionally use a taxi if I’m travelling a long distance.  Many people here walk, so this is not uncommon.  Last week I was walking to the store to purchase my groceries.  As I was walking along I saw a man driving by, practically turned all the way around in his seat to look at me.  Again, this is not uncommon.  I’ve asked other lekogwa about this, but few seem to report this phenomenon.  Apparently I am special.

However, this time I was a little bit too special.  As the driver was looking at me, he swerved into oncoming traffic and hit a car coming in the opposite direction.  You know how you are supposed to check to make sure everyone in an accident is ok?  That is the moral thing to do, right?  In Africa that is generally a bad idea.  No one here drives particularly fast, so both drivers were fine.  But as I was getting ready to continue on to the store the police arrived and insisted on taking statements from all of us.  That’s when the trouble started.

The police wrote up the traffic report stating that “a white woman walking along Shashe Road caused a traffic accident.”  Excuse me?  I most certainly did not.  How is it my fault?  Mr. Mmanokowa claimed I distracted him.  I didn’t yell anything obscene, run across the street right in front of his car or take my shirt off.  But that was how the traffic report was written.

After the accident I was required to go to court to determine whether or not I was guilty and if I should pay a fine.  Are you kidding me?!?!?!  I do have to say that court was quite an education.  After a lot of back and forth the judge finally decided I was innocent and let me go.  I’m not sure who in the end was found guilty or what kind of fine he had to pay, but I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible before they changed their minds.

I should mention however, that as I was sitting in court waiting for my trial a man was being tried for murder.  He was found guilty and made to pay a 400 Pula fine.  That is equivalent to about $50.  Nope, I did not misinterpret the sentencing or the penalty.  Though I certainly didn’t understand how murder would only cost you $50.

I started asking around about murder and the “low cost” penalty.  Apparently this is the standard practice.  Someone told me that in South Africa you have to pay about 250 Rand a month for a television license.  Inspectors randomly show up at people’s houses and if they find you have an illegal television you have to pay a 1,250 Rand fine.  However, the penalty for murder if you are found guilty is only 500 Rand.  In other words, don’t bother getting a television license and don’t worry about getting caught and having to pay the fine.  If the Inspector turns up, just kill him and pay the equivalent of two months of television licensing for the murder charge.  Yet again, TIA!