10 Oct 2019

The people of Nkange constituency have welcomed government’s pronouncement to honour former Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, Mr Obed Itani Chilume by naming the Francistown Sports complex after him.

Born on 8 August, 1933 in Nswazwi village, Mr Chilume, now aged 86, was the one of the youngest MPs in the inaugural Botswana Parliament of 1965.

Narrating how it all started in an interview with BOPA, Mr Chilume stated that he joined politics by virtue of being a school head at Matobo just a few kilometres from Tutume.

He said at the time, they were cajoled by the then Bechuanaland Protectorate top-brass to join politics, which he admitted unlike being the school head, paid peanuts.

“The late Sir Seretse Khama would constantly remind us that being an MP was more of a voluntary vocation and that we should not expect much,” said the octogenarian.

From 1965, Mr Chilume went on to serve the people of Nkange for a period spanning 34 years, and he passed the baton on to the young and agile Ambrose Masalila in 1999.

Besides being an MP, he also served as an assistant minister of the then Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, working under the late Mr Peter Mmusi as well as being the assistant minister of Local Government and Lands.

His son, Mr Ntoo Chilume relayed to BOPA that the recognition bestowed upon his father was both unique and significant.

Especially gratifying, Ntoo said, was the fact that his father, unlike many, was honoured when he was still alive.

He said the honour blended very well with the fact that his father had a penchant for sports, in particular football, which he discovered whilst training at Kanye Teachers Training College, where he was a good left back.

The young Chilume said during his heydays his father was called ‘Shaka delele’, a name he earned while playing soccer.

Whilst still the area MP and due to his undying love for the game of soccer, Mr Chilume reportedly bankrolled Marapong United.

He was also instrumental in organising tournaments in the village of Tutume during the public holidays, where Marapong United will challenge their rivals, Tutume United, under the leadership of one of Mr Chilume’s close allies, Mr Jenamo Mbaakanyi for the village’s bragging rights.

His then political rival under the Botswana Progressive Union (BPU), Mr Oteng Balisi of Nkange village, said despite their political differences, they got on very well.

“We have remained respectful to one another and I must say Mr Chilume deserves such an honour for he worked tirelessly and with people from across the political divide, to develop this area,” he said.

Sharing similar sentiments was Mr Zibani Omphile, who said Mr Chilume and his fellow lawmakers who made it to the first ever Botswana parliament, deserved to be honoured because theirs was volunteerism than careers. ENDS