Obama(mania) Not so in Botswana!

Source : Kutlwano

Author : Aron Moreeng

Location : Mochudi

Event : Mitchelle Obama\'s visit

 

MmaTsetla Lephothwe will probably go down in history as one of the few, if not the only African woman, to have ever served an American First Lady local cuisine during her regal visit to Botswana in 2010.

The 37-year old Lephothwe, of Mochudi, made news headlines in 2010 when she served magwinya (fat cakes), fried chips, and chicken pieces to Michelle, the wife of United States President, Barack Obama, from a rundown restaurant.

Although the experience looked like a fairy tale, Lephothwe knew it was real and remembers it to this day. Even when Borakanelo, the restaurant that gave her the rare opportunity to serve Michelle closed down, the encounter remains vivid and her solace to date.

Although many had envisaged that the restaurant, located in Mochudi, would bask in the glory of a Michelle’s stopover, it never did. Just three months after the rare visit, it closed down, understandably for renovations and revamping. Surprisingly, up until today it remains closed.  Today, more than a year down the line, and with Borakanelo Restaurant no longer operating, Lephothwe is not too eager to offer an interview about her encounter with the reigning American First Lady.

However, with great persuasion, she reluctantly takes Kutlwano down the memory lane but not before she defends her unwillingness: “I do not see myself worthy of any news headlines anymore after such a long time since I sold Michelle magwinya and chips. Further, while there was a customer boom immediately after her brief stopover, it did not last long as the restaurant soon closed down. And, in any case, people have obviously forgotten about the stately visit,” she argues.

Clad in a well-designed traditional dress, matching head-gear, Zion Christian Church (ZCC) badge on her left chest, and a brown hand bag, the former restaurant attendant says she later realised that warning signs had been there.

She may not have read between the lines or made sense of a group of strangers of Caucasian decent and a Motswana man who had been frequenting the restaurant.

The group would buy their meals and drinks and dine in the sitting area chatting endlessly. Generally there seemed nothing sinister about their character but just a bunch of innocent customers from abroad.

“On the morning of that particular Saturday, one of the latest frequenters of our restaurant came to me and said she would be bringing a visitor for us. But she didn’t say who the visitor was,” she discloses.

A few hours a group of men invaded their complex and proceeded to scan and search everybody. They were told to remain still until after the ‘unnamed visitor’ had left the complex.

“I was only advised to be ready to volunteer information that would help market our restaurant to the rest of the world,” she remembers fondly. By then she could even dash to her manager for more information because everybody had to stand still.

Within minutes the ‘unnamed visitor’ arrived and, to everyone’s surprise, it was none other than Michelle Obama, flanked by her two daughters, Malia (14) and Sasha (12). The fashion-icon that she is, she stepped into the restaurant and, like any normal customer, asked about the menu for the day before ordering magwinya and locally fried chips.

“I had never been that excited; I had watched and liked Michelle on television but it never occurred to me that I would meet her in real life,” she smiles shyly.

Despite the golden opportunity, Lephothwe has not even considered basking in the Obama limelight to snatch a lucrative employment offer anywhere around the country, if not the world. And she has remained firmly grounded like an ordinary guy next-door - unemployed.

One would have thought that restaurants, lodges, hotels and guesthouses would be queuing for her to leverage themselves on someone who once served a person of the stature of Obamas.

“You can imagine the business opportunities and mileage that such restaurants would be enjoying,” a lady who introduces herself as Mpho adds. She argues that Batswana are not business-prudent, and to her, Lephothwe is an opportunity waiting to be exploited. A goldmine to be explored, mined and exploited to get the maximum it can produce, she maintains.

“We are not business-minded or creative as a nation; how can that restaurant remain so idle after such free publicity? Not just any publicity, international publicity,” Mpho says. She is mystified that Borakanelo Restaurant has remained closed up to now.

Worst of all, Mpho is dumbfounded that none of the hotels, lodges, restaurants, or guesthouses has found the need to snatch Lephothwe and position her as a ‘marketing tool’ to lure more customers to their own businesses.

Just across the border, many of the local restaurants, situated in some of the most troublesome yet fascinating past, have basked in the limelight of the heroes and heroines that ever dined there.

The struggle heroes and heroines’ visit to some local restaurants, including Nelson Mandela, have transformed such institutions for the best. Those who served them have also enjoyed international mileage. Xolisa Ndoyiya, who was Nelson Mandela’s cook for 20 years, wears her title with pride and gratitude.

Ndoyiya does not only wear her title with pride but she has also published a book, ‘Ukutya Kwasekhaya: Tastes from Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen’ and she has gained international acclaim.

For Mmatsetla Lephothwe, who is arguably the only African woman to have served the world’s number one First Lady, Michelle Obama, local cuisine, during her week-long visit to Botswana, the opposite is the case.

She started working for Borakanleo Restaurant in December 2010 as a cook before she was elevated to the post of cashier a few months later. As a cashier, she was the first point of call to those who eat at Borakanelo Restaurant but she has just faded into oblivion. ENDS

Teaser:

The privilege of meeting an American First Lady may probably be as rare as a comet but one Motswana woman could not believe it when she did not only meet, arguably the world’s number one First Lady, but fed her as well, one good Saturday morning in 2010.