Bootlicking is a dangerous trend in politics as it results in people seeking favours, whilst at the same time blocking objective thinking and informed discourse. Bootlickers hardly look at things objectively because their main goal is to please their master at any cost. Africa is awash with examples of bootlickers. President Mugabe has been referred to as the “Son of God”, a divine appointee whose decisions are beyond reproach. In reference to Mugabe, former Information Minister Webster Shamu publicly declared that “…people say you have Cremora, the whole body.” Worse still, some ministers in Zimbabwe have openly said that given a choice, they would have applied to be Mugabe’s children.
In Botswana, we have also seen how this dangerous culture of sycophancy has been nurtured in the BDP to the detriment of the country. For a while, servile self-seeking flatterers, such as Vice President Masisi, have praised President Ian Khama’s “perfect” leadership, but this culture is likely to lead to the nation’s failure because bootlickers never criticise or correct their superiors; they want to be warmhearted to them all the time. The truth is there is no way that the centre was going to hold for the BDP when most members are comfortable being ‘cheerleaders’ rather than paying attention to the economy. This is why the popularity of the BDP is dwindling as people question the efficacy of the current leadership in calming the current economic storm.
Bootlicking reflects awkward and uncultivated behaviour which has the potential to throw the country into political and economic abyss. What Botswana needs are politicians who have spine and possess good ideas, ministers who do not easily submit to their leaders’ wishes, but are ready to criticise them so that they see the world in realistic terms and then lead us away from the current problems bedeviling the nation.
Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s video clip, which went viral on Facebook goes thus: “I’m not only bootlicking at Domkrag, I also bootlick royals. I wonder where your future lies if you are not a bootlicker, who is going to save you!’
From this statement it is evident that Masisi’s upwards ascendency in any office is entirely dependent upon his superiors whom he bootlicks, for without them he cannot be ‘saved’.
I concur with the sentiments of one writer who said bootlickers like Masisi and others who fawn on Khama day in day out have one goal: to be safely ensconced in the corridors of power for access to material resources and influence at the expense of the majority. Seeking personal interest at the expense of national interest will only result in derailment of the economy. This culture has to be nipped in the bud because apart from stifling proper discourse, it also leads to the establishment of a culture of fear as those who criticise the president face punishment or become derision to the country.
Botswana must trod back to the rudimentary and pristine ethics on which it was founded. Failure to do so might result in parliament being reduced to the kind of office in which people feel they have to bootlick in order to get ahead. In Botswana’s context, bootlickers would want us to see no evil in President Ian Khama whom they would want us to set free from consequences of guilt despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It is a mystery how Masisi and his ilk do not understand that criticising the president does not mean hatred toward him, but is simply an art of evaluating or analysing the best possible outcomes for the common good of our country. Our leaders, including the President, must embrace criticism and critics because they aid in pointing out the right way, not bootlickers who contribute nothing to the cause of the country.
While I personally do not share Masisi’s bootlicking sentiments, I can vouch that his sentiments are off-kilter. This is because a BDP government that is unable to transform itself into an effective vehicle of governmental service delivery can certainly not transform the deteriorating state it is presiding over. Secondly, it is a fact that a great national crisis must not overwhelm a leader, but must bring out the best in them. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case with Botswana. We have experienced at least three major national crises that virtually pushed this country to the precipice; notably, power and water shortages, corruption, and joblessness. But those at the helm of power never seized on any of these critical occasions to steer the nation towards safe shores. While the list of ministers and other key public servants who have taken the Khama bootlicking game to new heights has increased, is it surprising that despite the overabundance of diamonds that this country is endowed with, we find ourselves trapped in doom and a sullen state? In a genuine democracy, cabinet ministers and public servants must proffer objective advice regardless of the thinking of their state presidents. This has not been the case in Africa as most ministers do not have the guts to face the president and advise him to chart a new course. President Khama must be told the truth and nothing but the truth. For a rational mind, it is easy to see that those who are into the bootlicking game are people who feel insecure about themselves. Our chief want as a country are leaders who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. Although one of the Botswana objectives must be to construct a platform from which the young generation can build from, bootlicking will only result in the young generation inheriting a mettle of ashes because cheering a leader while everything else around us is collapsing is retrogressive. The politics of patronage in Botswana will destroy this great country unless this trend is stomped.
