leno la rona" as the anthem of the independent nation. In order to ascertain the opinion of the general public on the matter, the government transmitted all of the contending hymns over Radio Botswana. However, Matenge's group was able to obtain recordings of these songs for themselves and air them in front of quasi-town hall gatherings held in major settlements like Lobatse, Molepolole, and Mafikeng, in addition to the capital Gaborone. They strategically played "Fatshe leno la rona" as the last song – which in theory would increase the likelihood that the audience would remember the tune – while having their organisers add words of praise for it in an attempt to sway the crowd's opinion in favour of that hymn. At the end of the exercise, they would circulate a boilerplate form letter articulating the author's viewpoint of "Fatshe leno la rona" being their favourite candidate for national anthem. This was done because of the low levels of literacy in Botswana at the time. Of the multitude of letters sent to the Department of Information and Broadcasting, the vast majority of them expressed an inclination towards the aforementioned song. However, this account has been disputed by George Winstanley, the first clerk to the Cabinet after independence. He insists that stories about how the government was pressured into ratifying "Fatshe leno la rona" are simply inaccurate, especially in light of the fact that the civil servants who supposedly did this were merely "junior executive officers" at the time. Rather, Winstanley remembers how Seretse Khama initially leaned towards selecting "Morena" ("Lord keep the nation of the world"), before he convinced Khama to select a hymn that was "unique to Botswana". Khama's deputy Quett Masire recalled how the future president wanted an anthem that was enduring and would transcend the political spectrum, so that it would not be changed when another political party assumed power in the future. A total of seven hymns were shortlisted as finalists for the new national anthem. Motsete actually made another submission – "Botswana Fatshe le Lentle" (meaning "Botswana, a Beautiful Country") – in addition to "Fatshe leno la rona"; the two compositions finished runner-up and winner, respectively. The latter was officially adopted in 1966, the year the country gained independence. One of the first public occasions where the anthem was played was at the flag hoisting ceremony at midnight on 30 September 1966, marking the end