During the past two weeks, citizens of this country have been debating the issue of language as used by different political leaders when attacking each other. The complaint is that some of the leaders of opposition parties use unpalatable language to criticize President Khama and his lieutenants. Those on the defensive contend that the BDP leaders also have a tendency of using inappropriate language when addressing opposition leaders or citizens in general.
My view on the issue is that all the accusations and counter accusations are a result of the casual approach that BDP leaders adapt when handling serious national issues. They shoot from the hip, fail to choose words carefully and end up exposing themselves to unnecessary verbal attacks. Let me demonstrate this casual approach by briefly reflecting on the statements that were recently made by Dr. Batlang Serema and President Khama.
Last week, Dr. Serema was interviewed on Gabz FM on the state of his party, preparations for the congress that was held in Mahalapye over the weekend, the manner in which President Khama handled the industrial action by public servants, and the resignation of councilors from the party among others. Dr. Serema stated that despite losing control of the Francistown, Selibe-Phikwe, Gaborone and South East Councils as a result of defections of councilors to opposition parties, the BDP was getting stronger everyday as undesirable elements were leaving them in peace. He stated that the resignation of councilors in Gaborone was good riddance. He referred to them as a group of uncooperative people who could easily be dismissed as “trouble makers.”
Regarding the industrial action, Dr. Serema did not see anything wrong with the president refusing to meet MPs because he was busy preparing to go on holiday in the USA where he was given a conservation award that is of no benefit to the citizens of this country. According to him, it was in the best interest of the citizens for the president to go on holiday when the industrial action was bringing the entire country on its knees. He went further to tell the nation that, contrary to popular belief, President Khama met with the representatives of the trade unions and other stakeholders.
The statements made by Dr. Serema as briefly reflected in the foregoing paragraphs are devoid of the truth. He failed to choose his words carefully in trying to downplay the impact of the recent resignations from his party and the failure of the president to handle the industrial strike in a mature manner. All mature, seasoned and serious-minded politicians working towards retention of state power know very well that politics is a game of numbers. Hence, the loss of councilors to the opposition parties cannot be said not to have any significant impact of the well-being of the BDP.
If the CEO of the BDP can celebrate the loss of influential people like councilors on national radio, then party members should be really worried. Councilors usually defect with some members of the party thus leading to the collapse of party structures at the ward level. It is well-documented that the president refused to meet representatives of trade unions a few days before the strike started. I wrote in this column that by refusing to meet trade unionists, the president committed a very serious error of judgement as the industrial action had the potential of plunging our country into a crisis. And given the unprofessional manner in which the BTv reports on national issues, the people who control it could have done everything under the sun to tell Batswana about the president’s meetings with various stakeholders. That did not happen simply because the meetings never took place.
Remember that Dr. Serema is one of the people, who despite having stayed long in school, has stated on several occasions that there is no difference between the BDP and government. The implication of this bizarre statement arising out of lack of understanding of how the world of politics works is that the BDP drivers like Rre Mazabithi can walk to any government department and drive away with government vehicles to do the BDP business. Poor public relations and a casual approach adapted by Dr. Serema to national issues will not profit the BDP in anyway.
But Dr. Serema is not the only politician who has a weakness of using the wrong words to explain things as they relate to his party and government. His principals such as Minister Skelemani, Vice-President Merafhe and President Khama are a few steps ahead of him. We all know that Minister Skelemani has used his position to belittle presidents of other countries. His choice of words as the Public Relations Manager of our country has been disappointing to say the least. He is the face of our country. He should be the one playing a leading role in spreading the gospel on diplomacy. But he has failed dismally in this regard and all those who complain about the use of inappropriate language have conveniently decided to look the other way whenever he starts speaking.
President Khama has also failed on many occasions to choose words carefully when addressing citizens. A few weeks ago, he was quoted in the private newspapers saying that 93% of the people are poor when he knew very well that his figures are wrong. It is unethical for a national leader to deliberately mislead the nation simply because he wants to score political goals and portray himself as a messiah.
I watched President Khama on BTv on Saturday speaking at the BDP congress. He praised public servants who did not participate in the industrial strike and described them as “patriotic, disciplined and not selfish.” The reverse of this statement is that all those who exercised their right and took part in the strike were “unpatriotic, undisciplined and selfish.”
He went further to say that the poor people who constitute 23% of the population must benefit more from the country’s economy as compared to public servants who constitute 7%. Whilst the president may have good intentions of redistributing national resources, his statement is divisive and unhelpful to developmental efforts of this country. His obsession with ridiculing public servants for the problems that they did not cause will never solve the problem of poverty. The president likes to use the word “I” instead of “We” or “Government” when responding to questions at kgotla meetings. The word “I” as loosely used by the president indicates personalization of national issues. It portrays him as the “government” as well as shows his determination to exercise power over the people rather than with them.
True leaders regard themselves as members of the society that they are serving. They always make a concerted effort of using the word “We” or “Government” to assure citizens that they are part of the collective. Hence, it is of paramount importance that President Khama and his lieutenants must learn to choose words carefully when discussing national issues. They must learn to think and present issues in a diplomatic manner so that they avoid unnecessary verbal attacks from their political rivals.
