10 Oct 2019

Botswana like many countries in Africa has produced great leaders who made a significant contribution to the country’s development. 

Among them is veteran Botswana People’s Party (BPP) politician and former North East Member of Parliament, Mr Kenneth Nkhwa, 92, whom government will on October 11, honour for his contribution to the country’s development. 

He will be recognised by naming the Thapama Interchange, affectionately known as the Spaghetti, after him. Mr Nkhwa is a rare breed, one of only two surviving members of the 1^st Parliament. 

The nonagenarian comes from an extra-ordinary generation of selfless politicians who served before the allure of money permeated politics. In some African countries, the honour is usually reserved for those who belong to ruling parties due to the divisive and polarised nature of politics. The contributions of those in opposition are rarely acknowledged and normally watered down. Botswana has been an exception to this practice.

The Thapama interchange is part of the 30km Francistown/Tonota rehabilitation project which was initiated to address traffic flow and improve the socio-economic aspect of the city. 

The interchange, the first of its kind in Botswana, is a historical landmark infrastructure in the country and was funded by government to the tune of close to P1 billion. 

For the nonagenarian, who has experienced the rough and tumble of life that pre-independence Bechuanaland could offer, this is a high honour that one can ever get from his country. 

Speaking in an interview at his home in Gulubane on Wednesday, the veteran politician was all smiles about the recognition. 

“I wish to thank the government for this honour. It is not easy to be recognised for your contribution, especially when you belonged to the opposition,” he said. 

His wife, Ms Grace Ntombinkulu Nkhwa, whom he married in 1958, heaps praise on this recognition, noting that no one would ever forget the former Member of Parliament’s legacy. “He really worked very hard for this country at a time when it was still poor.

 I also assisted him with ideas when he went to Parliament,” she added. 

Ms Nkhwa said the gesture from government means that future generations would forever know that in the history of Botswana they existed a politician who toiled for the welfare of his people. 

She also narrated the story of how they escaped South Africa before independence, noting that it came after Mr Nkhwa’s mail which invited him to come back home and join politics was intercepted by the apartheid security agencies. 

Ms Nkhwa said his husband’s employer agreed that he should leave for his own safety despite holding a high position in the company.  The 83-year-old also chronicled her activism during the HIV/AIDS pandemic around the country where she worked with community organisations. 

As a young man growing up in Bechuanaland, Mr Nkhwa lived through droughts and was sucked into an international war after completing his junior certificate at Tigerkloof mission in South Africa.

 He fought in Egypt where he rose to the rank of corporal before settling in South Africa.  He also got a taste of institutionalised discrimination in apartheid South Africa. Back in those days, he explained that it was the dream of every young man to go down south to eke a living, and it landed him in Cape Town where he met his wife, the daughter of priest Timothy Shabangu.  It was while in the Cape that he was baptised into the political consciousness of liberation politics, and how he could go back home and play a role in politics. His political career spanned more than two decades as a Member of Parliament and a specially elected councillor and council chairperson in the North East District Council.

 Mr Nkhwa reminisces about the good old days of politics. “The Botswana Peoples Party had only three of us in Parliament after the elections in 1965. It was myself, representing the North East, Phillip Matante for Francistown and Thari Motlhagodi from Mochudi. 

We were very powerful and used to come up with strong motions, but they were defeated due to the fact that we were a minority,” he laughingly said. 

He noted that they used to be mutual respect amongst legislators, highlighting that in Mr Matante they had a strong leader who moved mountains.

However, he said that what he liked most was that despite failing to convince the ruling party, after some time they implemented their motions as they had debated and presented them. “It shows that they saw value in what we contributed in Parliament,” he quipped

 Amongst the notable achievements that he remembered from his party was the establishment of the Botswana Defence Force and the changing of the Botswana Police Service attire to do away with shorts. 

This, he said, was meant to give the police dignity while executing their duties. Mr Nkhwa also mentioned that he was trusted by the government and always accompanied delegations whenever the country wanted to make a case internationally.

The walls of his living room are adorned with awards that he won for his outstanding public service to the country. 

Mr Nkwa, who also serves as a kgosana in the village, explained that he would be retiring from the chieftainship soon as he believes he has done his part. 

The naming of the Thapama interchange after him, he added, was also recognition of the role played by Botswana Peoples Party in the country’s development. ENDS