Suicide Tales

Facebook recently went viral when one of the Miss Botswana contestants, Sharon Mathers made a statement about how, "Homosexuality is a disease. And I believe it can be cured". Yeah, the whole Botswana community went mad about this and the poor lady had to deactivate her account to avoid further bullying. Who would have thought gays had so much support! Anyway, that was then and this is now. Another issue has come to haunt us. The death of a "British lad", Kago Setshogo. 

First of all, my deepest condolences to the lad's family and friends. It's such a sad thing, what happened to Kago. The lad, who I recently labelled the "British lad" on my Facebook page, was brilliant. A brilliant news reader indeed. I personally loved him. But don't label me gay just yet. I knew it from the first time I saw him reading the news that he was bound for greatness. A perfectly crafted feature of perfection. Squinting eyes and a soft-spoken voice with a deep English accent that would just get you glued to the English bulletin. We, loyal viewers of the disgraced Botswana Television, first knew him from the fallen Meribo Music Show. He was still young then and probably still studying his Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English, reason for his good language skills. He went on to dominate airwaves on private radio stations before settling with the state-owned RB2. But then again, we are not here for an obituary on the guy's life. The issue at hand is suicide. Well, he committed suicide so let's talk about just that. 

Wikipedia, my close trusted friend, tells me this, "Suicide (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere, "to kill oneself") is the act of intentionally causing one's own death". Intentionally killing oneself. Kago committed suicide. He killed himself. But was it intentional? The Botswana Police say so but do we have any reason to believe them? I mean, he could have been killed then hung. We have had issues like that in Western countries and evil seems to be going international these days. So intentional killing of oneself, suicide, may be the wrong term to use in this guy's case. In a nutshell, all I am saying is, people die by hanging and we jump to conclusions fast. Little research at hand. But then again.

Suicide amongst the youth has been on the rise across the world and Botswana did not miss the shot. Young people have been reported to kill themselves after failed relationships, disappointing examinations results and a whole lot of stuff. On the relationships tip, some go to the extent of killing their partners before taking their own lives, an act widely known as "passion killing". It makes no sense to me calling it that but if it is what it is, then I will simply let it be. 

In the most rarest cases, social problems like alcoholism, debt, superstitious beliefs and others have been linked with suicide. Rejection by your family for what you are is also a rare cause for suicide but is also on a steady rise. You could be homosexual and the pressures of your parents or family to abandon your new venture would lead you over the edge. 

All in all, the youth of today kill themselves, not in honor like the Samurais but in shame, disappointment, and because of the diverse social pressures of the modern world. It's a pity we just have to live with it. It's a part of us now and there is no letting it go.

We lost a great man. Too bad he had to die that way. He will be missed, by many but certainly not all. He committed suicide. That's bad, neh? For hardcore Christians, that's even more bad. God does not allow suicide at all. One guy friend of mine, on Facebook said, "I don't see how we should feel sorry and mourn a coward who took his own life. I mean, there is a reason psychologists and counsellors are there. I would rather mourn a rebel who died trying to rape a child than a man who takes his own life!" It was a bit deep but I just had to quote him. The lad took down the post after much negative comments from his other friends. I am sure a lot of people will disagree with him too. But then again, it's not every Jack and Jill who will.

Rest in Peace Kago. But if the Bible is anything to go by, peace is a fantasy for his soul. I'm just saying anyway. No offense to any one. Let me rest my case right here. Good day.

Beauty of failure

Last night, as expected, Botswana Television showed us (after two full days) the 2013 edition of Miss Botswana. Disaster was, quiet honestly, the order of the day.

From the contestants to the ever shaking cameramen, all was terrible! And oh! The perfomance itself! Let's talk about the perfomance forehand. Well, to my shock, South African musician, Ishmael (whatever his surname is) is still alive! Glory be to God on this one. Yeah, the guy who made Da L.e.S famous while he stayed, well, lame and infamous. No offence to the guy though. I mean, while he was still hot back in 1990-whatever, he did keep our sisters and parentd on their heels with tracks like "Where were you?". But that was that.

Facebook went mad over this guy as he delivered his lame perfomance. The guy looked so delapilated, in my own view. Bad news. Bad news, I tell you. Just like the show itself. Miss Botswana is going down! And Ishmael was dragging it down some more! It was painful. From the stage set to the throne used. No, throne is not the righr word. That thing was an office chair for real! Apparently, as a joke from one of my Facebook friends, the fictional character from South African soapie, Mawande Memela borrowed them her CEO chair when she left for Cape Town to look for uMzwanele. Cracked me for real!

Bottom line, Miss Botswana was embarassing. A.T.I could have done better. Or L!nxstar. Or my favorite female rapper right now, Sasa Klass. Or Vee. Anybody but Ishmael. Its bad, neh?

But then again. Anyway, good day.

The Black Train of Limkokwing

Recently, I messed up a little when I decided to terminate my scholarship with the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (Botswana), where I was on my first year, semester two for Graphic Design. Yeah, I must admit, the going was tough and Graphic Design proved to be no gun-play for small boys like me. So I decided to quit. Pursue something to do with writing. Journalism seemed the easy option. So I opted for it. 

Well, I am on my way to school to get the course change underway when all of a sudden, I hear noises and see smoke from the direction of the campus, up in Block 7, Gaborone. Okay, so I walk on and in sight, just by the students' gate (yeah, we have our own gate), the Botswana Police Service's elite Riot Squad (or whatever they are called) is busy gearing war with bandits of my fellow school mates. It was crazy, I tell you. That guy who directed 300 (the movie)  could have easily picked up scenes for his next blockbuster right there! 

Students throwing stones, tear gas all over, police officers with riot shields; I had never seen nothing like that! I had two choices though: join the fight or run for my life. The latter seemed a better option, considering my cowardly persona. So I ran. Leaving behind my comrades, the desperate-for-action officers and the lavish Limkokwing top-brass, I ran. 

So what's the root of all this turmoil? Well, the answer is quiet straight forward. Limkokwing ate our money! Yes, "our" money. Mine and all the other students'. We signed a contract with the MoESD when we started our first year. A contract that clearly specified that I would get P1420.00 every month as well as P1300.00 as my book allowance beginning of every semester. Well, there is no such contract, quiet honestly but it's just (if I may put it this way) the way things have always been. But Limkokwing did not, as usual, give me and all my fellow schoolmates my book allowance this year. Why? Because the old man's Black Train has to continue bellowing smoke, that's why! At my cost, it has to! 

The nation is yet to witness another revolution. I will not say any more. Brace yourself. 

Good day.

Witchcraft is Real! Or not?

Boloi. Or simply witch-craft in English. It is a wide spread but rarely talked-about topic that carries a lot of sensitivity around it. You know, with the mention of the word, you can easily send shivers down anybody's spine. Literally! So let's talk about boloi for a little bit.

Well, some places around the country carry a lot of association to the topic. Bobonong, Mmadinare, Tsetsebjwe, Molepolole, E.T.C. These are the most "notoriously" known places where you can go to if you want to catch a glimpse of the topic. They even made a T.V production, Thokolosi, about boloi, that was set (coincidentally?) in Bobonong. It raised the bar on the tiny Bobirwa village and people grew curious. I must say, Thokolosi was some scary stuff and I grew just as curious.

So, boloi. What is witchcraft?  Wikipedia defines it as follows, "Witchcraft (also called witchery or spellcraft) is the use of alleged supernatural, magical faculties. This may take many forms, depending on cultural context". So it involves the use of supernatural means. Unbelievable stuff. So maybe, looking at the fact that these are unusual means, this whole issue (boloi) might as well be a myth! But no, I have done my research and I can tell you one thing: this thing is real.

Tsetsebjwe. Let's talk a bit about the 5000-populated village, also in the Bobirwa District in eastern Botswana. I personally stayed there from 2007 when I started my Form 1. I had heard stories before about the mysteries of the village. One that caught my attention was the "Crying child of Tsetsebjwe". Apparently, there was a child who was murdered for ritual reasons in the past years and due to the child's parents' involvement in the murder, it's other relatives worked their magic and had the child cry every night to haunt the parents. Scary stuff! Even scarier was the fact that one good night, I heard the child myself. Believe me! So boloi had enough evidence to prove its existence in Tsetsebjwe!

Then, still around the Bobirwa are, exists a village called Sefhophe. Yeah, that village where Tumi Ramsden has relatives. Well, still to my own witnessing, in Sefhophe we have a guy who goes around asking for no other monetary value but two pula. I saw that happening myself. The story goes that this guy robbed a lady who had the touch of magic and got away. But not really as the said lady bewitched the poor guy. Next thing the guy knew, he was going around asking for two pula. Scary!

Last but not least, right here in the capital city, we have our own boloi issue to solve. Take a drive across the fly-over past Old Naledi and stop. Walking in the southerly direction, in a trench bridge, we have a guy hanging out around the place, literally! Like our big Brother Jesus on the cross, our guy lies against the bridge all day long!  Hot or cold, he just lies there. I don't have much information on him but apparently, he got bewitched. That's for all for you to go confirm. I'm just too scared to even go any further. 

That's it for now. Until next time, good day.

BTV: Botswana's Entertainment Industry setback

Back in the late 1990s, when the government drafted a law that later gave birth to the now-shamed Botswana Television, there was a lot of excitement amongst our young  and eager nation. I mean, we had been bracing to the SABC all along and we would finally have something of our own.

Yes, fairly enough, the station did start off well. We had daily news at 1900hrs, What's the Score? entertaining us every Friday and dishing out gig guides, Sedibeng Talkshow came in and countless others like the deteriorated Flavor Dome and Mokaragana Music show. It was merry days. Fun galore; literally! Personalities like Bonnie Dintwa, Gloria Kgosi, Gregg Losibe and Tony Tabona were born off these shows. It was a very good start. Excellent start indeed.

Then something went wrong. Horribly wrong.

Mokaragana lost sponsors and had a change of stages until it settled for the old set you see today. Flavor Dome lost Coca-Cola as well and remains with a 1990s set that is just so embarrassing. They continue to play the same songs over and over again when a stack of  local videos sit somewhere in the Mass Media Complex. Shame.
Sedibeng held on and continues to grow. Remarkable.
The BTV news center. Well, the news are a little left behind with moving times. They source news from the Internet and lack personnel in their own territory. I mean, just recently, there were complaints about lack of news reporters in the northern parts of the country, which was being served by one reporter, who doubled as a cameraman. Embarrassing, I must say, for the third if not second leading economy in Africa.
New shows came and went. BTV could not sustain a lot of creative and innovative shows locally produced. The Clover Game Show, for one. It came and poof! It was gone. But at least it managed to put Vee and that co-presenter girl on the map some more.  They lost more of the shows they had started. Diacha sadly fell on the list. Lots others did too.
Local shows are made and the station fails to commission them. Next thing you know, they are buying Korean dramas and old, Australian and Canadian shows like the disgraced Degrassi. Shame.

For as far as the looms of our government stations go, I could literally sit here in front of my iPad and list them the whole day. From shaky cameras to unproffesionalism in the editing team, The few listed are a fair explanation that BTV is the major setback in this country's entertainment arena. Someone needs a boot from Mr. Ian Khama soon!

Good day.