All Quotes

"Fresh turmoil rattles BPF 2 September 2025"

"Reatile falls on his own sword 1 November 2024"

"It’s a strange paradox that a man gifted with too many talents can fritter them all away without developing a single one to its full."

"History is a river that never ends. Today is history, and I am here at the fountainhead."

"Rage makes a man sick, my son. It spoils his appetite for life and keeps him from sleep at night. We cannot change our world, so we must look for the good things in life and enjoy those to the full."

"The best cure for racism is have somebody shoot at you. Man, it does not matter then what colour the arse is that comes to save yours — black or white, you’re ready to give it a big fat kiss."

"A cynic had defined aid as simply the system by which poor white people in rich countries gave money to rich black people in poor countries to put into Swiss bank accounts."

"No profit was too small to despise; no loss was too small to abhor."

"War is the game played by old men with the lives of the young."

"'A man follows the path laid out for him. He does his duty to God and his king. He does what he must do, not what pleases him.' He felt the anger and outrage building in him. ‘God’s truth, boy, what kind of world would this be if every man did what pleased him alone? Who would plough the fields and reap the harvest, if every man had the right to say, "I don’t want to do that." In this world there is a place for every man, but every man must know his place.'"

"The branch breaks that will not bend with the wind. You must learn to bend."

"Duplicity thy name is woman!"

"We are all mere insects caught in the web that the gods spin for us."

"The most effective way to kill any animal is for it to die before it even knows you are there."

"I've eaten lion, leopard, crocodile, python. I don't recommend lion. It tastes exactly like when a tomcat comes into your house and sprays."

"It's a melancholy and moving thing to hunt an elephant. It's like shooting an old man."

"They say if you drink Zambezi water with your mother's milk, you are always a slave of Africa, and I am."

"I have this morning tendered my resignation from the position of secretary-general of the Botswana Democratic Party, effective immediately. I would like to apologise to members of the BDP and the people of Botswana for my part in leading the party to its first electoral loss since 1965 thereby interrupting a 58-year legacy of government bequeathed to us by Sir Seretse Khama, Sir Ketumile Masire and other founders of the BDP."

"To our people back home in Ngami, words may not suffice to express my gratitude for the love you gave me.""

"Our Party has in its many years of existence accrued a national footprint and insurmountable goodwill that should see us easily reclaim government. With the right mindset and personnel at the helm, the BDP will be back to glory days in no time.”"

"I can only share the date and any other issue should be addressed to the region."

"As we speak, the Cabinet has not been completely formed. Parliament has not yet convened and I do not know what informs the minds of those who say the BDP will not bounce back. To me, talk of the extinction of the BDP is just conjecture. We first need to assess the extent to which the BDP will regroup, reorganise and refocus, the kind of the new leader it will have before passing judgments."

"If the new leader of the BDP is a unifier who will also adjust and revitalise all the party structures, from the bottom to the top, then I am of the view that the party has good prospects of making a strong showing in the 2029 elections. If the new party leader and those who will be elected into various leadership positions of the party work very well with critical stakeholders such as trade unions, then it is difficult for now to write the BDP off. Nothing has just started."

"This on its own shows positive energy that our members want their party to redeem itself. They want the party to adapt to the current situation and regroup, reorganise and refocus. Were it not for the current First Past the Post System, the BDP could be the second biggest party in the country after the UDC. Numbers show that the BDP was voted by many people after the UDC,”"

"There is a need for gender-based violence activists to be visible."

"It is essential for the society to change from the habit of teaching the boy-child that a man is supposed to be tough, but that crying is part of healing."

"No need for inquest on extra-judicial killings - Seretse 2 July 2009"

"COVER UP EXPOSED: Police kill suspect mafia – style 24 August 2017"

"Police must employ positive aggression - minister 18 February 2014"

"Seretse cautions media 20 March 2014"

"I have not decided on a date yet but I have taken a decision to retire from partisan politics. The date will be announced and this will be before the end of my term as MP. I think I have done my part, I don’t want to find myself pointing fingers at people – two terms is fine."

"When I do take the decision to leave, I will not take part in any partisan politics. I am engaged in other institutions."

"My life continues but I want a private life."

"I do not want to partake in the confusion and the destruction of the values of this country. If these politicians want to destroy this country, let them do so without some of us. There are more important things to be concerned about than to be fighting for positions."

"We need to make sure that we have strong institutions."

"We need to review it. I am going to advocate for that."

"We should be very careful when we apply our laws."

"When I maintained that I am not leaving, Khama still went on to announce that I had left."

"They were in-fightings that were just too deep, so I decided to leave and rather operate as an independent. The BDP and Khama then came to me and pleaded with me to return. Out of courtesy I felt that if I was going to resist, people back home would think there was some sinister motive and so I decided to go back, at least just to finish off my term."

"The whole idea was that a motion of no confidence should be moved against me. (Shaw) Kgathi and (Vincent Seretse) VT tipped me to say that the caucus was up to something. The other thing was that the entire central committee was going to resign."

"At that point in time I was doing work in Zimbabwe. They went and closed my accounts. I was put in a corner and so I decided to leave. I phoned Khama and handed in my resignation, I told him he did not have to go that far. I did not leave on my own volition."

"One of the few people who were there for me during that time was Khama. Of course I had made my own network throughout the years."

"Before then Khama approached a couple of us to stand as independent candidates, but I proposed instead that we form a party. The process began and the late Panzirah led the formation of the party and the coordination."

"Guma finally leaves troubled BPF 27 March 2003"

"Just like President Ian Khama said, I wish I had known about this thing before I accepted an appointment as a Minister."

"Why ambush me. I am at a loss. I believe the whole thing is more political than anything.” In his anger, even his party colleagues are not spared."

"I am a fighter. I will not crawl and beg when I am under attack. I will take them on ÔÇô one by one."

"I have never seen such malice. The BDP members have been the most vociferous."

"What a coincidence!"

"I even listened to a conversation in which one party functionary who holds a position in one of the sub-committees told opposition Member of Parliament, Dumelang Saleshando, that I am involved in corruption."