What is happening in the Barolong by-election is once again putting to the fore the long held lie that there is no state funding of political party funding in Botswana.
The ruling party candidate, Eric Molale is being financed by the state ÔÇô directly and indirectly.
Directly because a host of government operations have literally decamped to Barolong under the guise of taking Government to the people when in real effect such efforts are meant to prop up Molale’s campaign; indirectly because a host of beneficiaries of government procurement system are the ones lining up to finance Molale.
The direct funding while by far the one that causes the biggest ire among opposition parties is actually by far the lesser of the two evils.
Indirect funding is a kind of permitted corruption.
It is a cesspool that has now ruined beyond recognition what was already a skewed playing field.
Botswana is unique in that the state plays an excessive role in the economy.
This effectively means that the economy is in lock to the party in power.
Many businesses are scared of donating to opposition because they do not want to be targeted for exclusion by the ruling party.
That is why the party in power enjoys excessive gifts and donations from the private sector.
All of the people and companies at the forefront of Molale’s campaign funding do business with Government.
They are not funding Molale out of altruism.
Molale will one way or another be expected to pay back ÔÇô not through his own means but by using his office.
Some of the individuals donating money to Molale know that their funding of Molale will enhance their career progression should he make it.
Similarly, they are doing it because they want something in return.
One of the things they are doing it for is to get access to power.
And they rightly believe that their access to Molale will give them a password to the highest echelons of power.
The companies pumping money into Molale’s campaign expect beg returns from doing so.
It is not a coincidence that we see private tertiary schools ÔÇô some of them with bogus credentials tightly associating themselves with Molale’s campaign.
They are doing so because they want to be guaranteed of political protection as they continue to churn out chaff in their systems.
But chiefly they want an assurance that government will continue to favour them by sponsoring students in their bogus schools.
For them funding Molale is nothing but a wise commercial decision.
They are doing it because it is a wise investment.
The opposition should come out clean to say that they will change the circumstances surrounding political party funding.
What we need is a full declaration of political party funding.
There should also be a cap on such funding.
More importantly, the state should come up with a formula through which political parties and their candidates would benefit from state funding.
