Once upon a time, on 31 August 2008 to be precise, I wrote a very sobering essay titled ‘Ian Khama: A model celebrity President’, which chronicled President Dr Khama’s artistic personality that many simply wished to become replicas of. The essay sought to demonstrate that whereas many people often thoughtlessly equate hyper active presidents with great men, the truth is that a good number of these are actually busy-but-doing-nothing-all-over-the country presidents who are clueless about presidential responsibility. The essay argued that celebrity life style is inimical to superior presidential leadership because when a celebrity president gets mobbed by his captive lazy-thinking followers, he likely gets carried away and instead of effectively managing the economy, his immediate concern is often about consolidating his position as a celebrity-in-chief of local politics.
The discussion sought to alert President Dr Khama and his handlers to the dangers of a celebrity Head of State with the hope that he will repent and concern himself with the task of managing the economy than showing off his physical fitness and playing skills. This was intended to influence President Dr Khama to ultimately re-direct his energies, capabilities and goodwill towards national service rather than a constant obsession with celebrity lifestyle which has become the source of much of our political and economic woes ÔÇô a clear and present danger to our erstwhile great republic. However, the discussion seemed to have had negligible effects because the situation has gotten worse resulting in President Dr Khama acquiring an elephant-sized sense of own importance. President Dr Khama has become as central to not only our national politics but our view of self. Perhaps this is the explanation for the bizarre results of the recent Gallup Survey that revealed that Botswana President Ian Khama is the most popular leader among his people in the whole of Southern Africa. President Dr Khama has taken advantage of his celebrity status and the gravitational pull of his charm, charisma and the Khama name to become a unique and special human being.
Like damned dictators, celebrities are smart and highly manipulative to the extent that most people believe that they are indeed a sacred breed. They accumulate unbelievable wealth by exploiting our obsession with them but give back to the community an insignificant fraction of their wealth solely to present themselves as compassionate and extremely kind beings who would like all of us to live their lives. President Dr Khama has become an expert at faking compassion, capability, seriousness and disciplined hard work. Yet, we use him as a compass of what an industrious and diligent citizen should be like. Yet, the opposite of these virtues lies close to the truth, but because many idolize and idealize his image and have become his carbon copies, we see him as a brand, a supermodel whose beliefs, behaviours, values and weird choices should be force-fed on all. In the process of mimicking him, we have elevated him to an elected monarch, a cult, a wayward imperial president, a high priest capable of anything. Instead of restraining him from trampling on state institutions and alienating the country from regional peers, we ululate and cheer him on because we clamour to be associated with him and everything that constitute a part of his life.
When he zooms out to Khawa for his leisure routines that accounts for typical delinquent behaviours, everyone want to be part of the experience and trip over each other to take a selfie with their Godfather. When he takes his troops to Makgadikgadi PaNS important engagements, be they national or regional, have to be put on hold so that all can celebrate him and with him in style. And because he is addicted to the world of combat sports, sky diving, quad biking and so forth, many of us have become instant fanatics of extreme sports and have taken to re-designing our preferences to reflect his. This is the reason why many people have become pathetic ‘players’ and loafers of repute. For instance, on Fridays civil servants go on holiday-in-the office in fulfilment of their community service role.
When he declares that he does not read local newspapers almost everyone including those who have never looked at a newspaper proudly and unashamedly declares their hatred for local papers hence many have become seasoned lackeys and bum kissers of high standing. This lack of curiosity in published materials or written text has resulted in a frighteningly ignorant and timid society. We no longer want to debate issues that affect us but prefer to raise up our hands to show our like for the absurd essentially because we have given away our heads.
Certainly, a celebrity president would normally be a godsend item for national prosperity in terms of their propensity to mobilize, appeal and inspire all to contribute productively. Nevertheless, this would normally require someone with the gravitas and appropriate sense of priorities to keep away from petty lifestyle of showbiz in order to focus on the bigger picture. It requires an adequately grounded individual who can resist the temptation of becoming a sorry me-nice; someone who can float above the narrow confines of a pop culture presidency that places premium on controversy, hassling and exciting nonentities instead of engaging with serious policy issues. It has to be noted that leadership is primarily about having a solid vision and considerate intellect not just showboating and excelling in rhetorical platitudes.
Yet, the danger is that a celebrity president who takes quality time to trade banter about the shapes and sizes of women takes with his vast swath of fanatics in ridiculing women and now we have a society that has no respect for a woman. The danger is that when a celebrity president strays and falls into a shallow pit his captives who constitute a sizeable proportion of our population willingly go down with him like sheep do. The danger is that when a celebrity president defiles the constitution with impunity we shout hallelujah like intoxicated imbeciles.
The danger in having a celebrity and unusually popular president is that when he demand that we wear Botswana colours on Fridays we oblige without seeking to understand the motive or at least to ask why Fridays of all days of the week and as a result on Fridays many people look so miserable in the familiar losers’ colours. The danger in having a celebrity president comes when citizens are drugged into replicating the celeb not because of his leadership abilities but because he has unbelievable levels of physical fitness of persons his age; because he is cool, likeable, relatable, unbeatable and has a sense of humour. Yet the greatest danger comes when fully developed human beings look to the celebrity president for salvation from all societal problems.
The ultimate price the nations pays for having a celebrity president is that there is all-round lack of seriousness in everything we do as a nation. A celebrity and delinquent president diminishes the dignity of the office of the president and by extension the nation’s standing in global politics. It gives us away as lame and playful people. It tells the world that the President of the Republic of Botswana and his fellow citizens are never serious and should never be taken seriously. Minister Venson-Moitoi’s failed bid for the position of African Union Commission’s Chairperson bears me witness.
Ultimately, a celebrity president is as dangerous and costly as a damned dictator.
*Dipholo is a professor of education at the University of Botswana
