It is common knowledge that President Khama abhors attending UN and AU summits and all indications are that he is not intending to reconsider his position in relation to these international obligations. While the Office of the President maintains that not all is lost since President Khama always delegates someone to represent the country, it is important that the country should be represented at the highest level especially at such key gatherings as UN, AU summits and the recently held US-Africa Economic Summit. It is a matter of fact that Botswana is a member of the global community hence we cannot afford to subsist in isolation more-so given that our economy depend almost entirely on other countries for basic commodities.
International gatherings thus offer limitless opportunities for networking with other countries and for strengthening bilateral relations for survival. As a result of his truancy, commentators and opposition politicians have urged President Khama to get his priorities right and take his job seriously particularly with regard to his international obligations. Unfortunately, President Khama appears to be virtually uninterested and less bothered. Patriotic citizens have expressed genuine fears that the sum total of President Khama’s perennial absenteeism at international gatherings is that Botswana is gradually being cut off from the international community and is lonely, off the map and risk being forgotten.
Given that Botswana is a landlocked, virtually dependent country with a tiny, fading economy, such isolation could have devastating effects in the long-term. This then demands that we explore overarching alternatives particularly that President Khama remains unshaken in his resolve to boycott key international meetings. Any further attempts to persuade him to personally attend such meetings would be silly and a waste of time. There are countries in the world which have the position of head of state separate from that of head of government. In the UK for instance, the head of the state and the head of government are distinct positions with mutually reinforcing functions.
Whereas the Prime Minister is the head of government, the Queen is the head of state. In view of President Khama’s refusal to personally represent Botswana in UN and AU summits and other high profile international forums, The Badge of Courage is tempted to propose that Botswana should explore the possibility of amending the national constitution to provide for the position of Prime Minister in co-existence with that of the state president.
Despite the added costs of providing an extravagant lifestyle for another scammer and members of his club, there are substantial benefits to be derived from the proposed arrangement. The first obvious benefit is that the arrangement would free up both incumbents to commit their time to executing their respective duties. The present set up where the state president is head of state and head of government all at the same time has proved unwieldy and cumbersome which perhaps explains why President Khama fails to balance his internal and external commitments. The proposed set up would enable the head of government to commit their time to coordinating the operations of government, including handling foreign relations. On the other hand, the head of state would be much freer to fulfil his duties including exercising constitutionally enshrined political powers and legitimizing the state. As the first citizen, the head of state would be the undisputed leader of the nation.
In simplistic terms but proficient posturing, the proposed arrangement would ensure that when President Khama or any other head of state spend considerable time with the rural folks who basically promote his image by mobbing and venerating him in a manner that gives him a phony political pedigree, the Prime Minister’s office responsible for running the government would be taking care of Botswana’s interests at home and abroad. Under the proposed arrangement, Botswana would not be disadvantaged when the head of state prioritizes his presence at Makgadikgadi Epic adventure over joining up with other leaders to find solutions to world’s problems. The present arrangement also conflates the state and government to the extent that the two have practically become one and the same thing. This has tended to offer unlimited opportunities for political corruption and abuse of office by the state president and his ruling party. Secondly and equally significant, the proposed arrangement would ensure that power is spread between two key positions instead of having all powers in the hands of a single individual.
It is a fact that the constitution of Botswana gives the state president unregulated powers consequently making him a virtual autocrat. Creating the office of the Prime Minister would, to a greater extent, disaggregate legislative and executive powers to the extent that it would act as a balance to the powers currently accruing to the state president as both head of state and head of government. Experience shows that when leaders are conferred with Satan-prototype powers, they not only become too powerful but get carried away so much that any criticism levelled against them is taken as insults, insubordination or subversion that is punishable by elimination. Ultimately, fearing victimization and banishment, citizens become nodding donkeys signalling the end of everything that matters in the life of a democracy.
