Less than a week after the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Members of Parliament passed a motion to extend the State of Public Emergency (SOPE), the party’s Secretary General Rre Mpho Balopi is apologising profusely presumably on its behalf, for violating Covid-19 rules and regulations. How ironic! By virtue of having approved Covid-19 rules and regulations, it is incumbent upon the BDP to be the strict enforcer of these rules and regulations without exception. It should be remembered that after the declaration of the first SOPE and when a countrywide lockdown was in force, the BDP Central Committee meeting was held at the State House seemingly against Covid-19 rules and regulations. The BDP, to the best of my knowledge, was not punished for this violation. The blatant violation of the current violation comes as a result of the funeral of one of its members and activist in Francistown. As a consequence of the violation of the said Covid-19 rules and regulations at this funeral, the event is God forbid, potentially a super spreader of the Covid-19 pandemic within and beyond Francistown with dire health issues. And this is in view of the fact that Francistown has of late experienced a huge surge in Covid-19 numbers. From where I stand, Rre Balopi’s apology is simply a public relations stunt worth criticising in the most uncompromising fashion.
Rre Balopi is fully aware that given the deceased position and influence in Francistown and probably beyond its borders, the funeral was highly likely to attract huge numbers of mourners from across the board. There was a memorial service held in honour of the deceased early in the week whereat the President of the party including Rre Balopi himself attended. At this point, it would have dawned on him and his party that the numbers of mourners as mandated by Covid-19 rules and regulation would be surpassed and therefore that, urgent measures be put in place to comply. And this after Rre Balopi has sought to absolve the bereaved family from being blamed for the huge numbers of mourners and consequently, the violation of the protocols. It has not been stated by Rre Balopi what and how measures if any, were put in place. I would have expected him and his party to have instructed party members on one hand and the general public on the other, not to attend the funeral unless they were on the list as required by the Covid-19 rules and regulations with respect to funerals. These rules and regulations apply to all funerals regardless of the status of the deceased. I am acutely aware of the pain suffered by any family when one of them departs this planet particularly the brutal manner surrounding this particular funeral. The long and short of this point is that no measures were put in place to comply. Otherwise Rre Balopi wouldn’t be apologising.
The result of failure to comply is too ghastly to contemplate. Firstly, the funeral event is potentially a huge super spreader of Covid-19 pandemic whose effects are likely to be felt in the not so distant future. Botswana is currently facing huge Covid-19 numbers in one form or the other. The country’s health infrastructure as it is an open secret, is nowhere near the capacity to accommodate Covd-19 numbers. Secondly, failure to comply with the very same Covid-19 rules and regulations it was at the forefront of crafting consequent to the SOPE, the BDP should be seen to be taking the nation for granted because it doesn’t appear to be walking the talk. It could very well mean that Covid-19 rules and regulations could, in whole or in part, be violated willy-nilly with an apology tendered thereafter.
Rre Balopi’s apology and for what it is intended, is all but a serious dereliction of duty on him as the CEO of the BDP, sheer complacency with which the BDP has become and an affront to the Rule of Law. It will be remembered that in the early days of the pandemic, the President ‘secretly’ travelled to Namibia against conventional protocols where his travels are announced before and after. In this particular trip, the nation only came to know about it through social media platforms. In the process, all Covid-19 protocols were violated left, right and centre with impunity. I have also referred to the BDP Central Committee meeting held at the State House. We live in a world of ‘it’s our time to eat’, and that ‘we are ruling.’ The complacency I have referred to above stems from these narratives which suggest from as far as one can fathom, a larger-than-life attitude towards the bare minimum of what could be expected from a ruling party in a time of crisis like Covid-19.
From where I stand, and if Rre Balopi’s apology is to be taken seriously given the deleterious consequences of commission or omission with respect to the funeral’s inability to comply with Covid-19 protocols from his own admission and under his watch, he should resign his position of Secretary General of the BDP for the simple reason that he has put it into some disrepute of some sort. He would probably have a leg to stand on if he didn’t attend the funeral. Not when he attended the memorial service leading to the funeral. If he had shown and demonstrated leadership by ensuring that Covid-19 protocols are strictly complied with without failure, that funeral wouldn’t have become a potential super spreader of Covid-19 pandemic it probably and potentially has become. Security agencies like the police and the army, whose principal mandate under SOPE among others is to ensure the enforcement of Covid-19 protocols, were available in Francistown to be roped in. This shouldn’t have been a difficult task for Rre Balopi given his proximity to the President both in the party and government.
As I rest my case, I am convinced that Rre Balopi’s apology is nothing more than a public stunt or a damage control exercise couched in a funeral sympathy narrative. He failed dismally so, to help the terribly aggrieved family with the administrative side of complying with Covid-19 health protocols when he is in fact, capacitated to do so. Compliance with these protocols far outweigh anything else Rre Balopi may want to suggest to me or anybody else for that matter. Unintended consequences in the form of potential Covid-19 super spreader may have been set in motion to the detriment of the larger society. I am prepared to be persuaded otherwise as always. Judge for Yourself!
Covid-19 pandemic remains our immediate threat. Please comply as religiously as you are required with Covid-19 health protocols. You have a duty to do so for your own sake and that of the next person.
