Nothing is turning out to be more divisive or near so as the ongoing Commission of Enquiry on the Constitutional Review.
A Constitutional Review exercise was supposed to be met like a liberation moment – a kumbaya of sorts.
Batswana had long demanded one.
In the last General Elections all the contending parties were united in making the Review one of their key electoral pledges.
Batswana had a reasonable expectation that the process would start within the first hundred days of the winner’s term.
That did not happen.
And for some time Batswana were beginning to suspect that that the ultimate winner of those elections, President Mokgweetsi Masisi was slowly if stealthily walking back on the promise.
Late last year he announced a Commission of Enquiry – apparently at the behest of his Chief of Staff who deemed reneging on it an unpardonable renunciation.
It was nonetheless a beautiful surprise.
Difficult and risky projects that are potentially unpopular are best dealt with early on in one’s presidency. Masisi missed that opportunity.
Allowing time to drag on means that one inevitably loses political capital and with that the will and confidence to take bold risks.
As it has turned out, the Constitutional Review had meant many different things to many different people.
And quite expectedly, when it came the Review divided public opinion.
The opposition was outraged.
They believe by going the Commission of Enquiry route the process is rigged.
Too many key stakeholders feel aggrieved.
Botswana Government has been at pains to explain just what the mandate of the Commission is.
The latest being an explanation proffered by Minister in the Presidency Kabo Morwaeng just this week. It all started after the Commissioners were announced.
They hold that this is not a Review proper. Rather it is a review before a review.
Government’s bandwidth is being pushed to the limit.
Communications students will tell you that if you find yourself having to explain yourself, especially more than once then you are certainly not winning.
The opposition is eager not only to undermine the Commission, but also turn it into a baneful theatre.
And Botswana Government is doing a splendid job helping them.
Minority tribes have felt the Commission fell too short of what they had had and in mind about the Review.
The so called major tribes have feared that the Commission was a first step at reversing their positions of privilege.
This is not surprising because the two have never had their tribal interests fully aligned.
Now the leader of Umbrella for Democratic Change is adamant that a UDC in power would still need to carry out a proper Constitutional Review.
The divisions have upended what was supposed to be a unifying moment in the nation’s history.
There are real risks that the whole thing could be stillborn.
Too many disparate interests are now united in their revulsion to the process chosen by government.
An ideal process is the one that would bring the nation together in its attempts to find a lasting path towards celebrating its unity in diversity.
But here we are, divided even before the process proper starts.
It is too early to say we botched the process. But we have clearly gotten entangled by it.
Rules are written, changed and rewritten as we go.
Batswana’s desire for a Constitutional Review is incontrovertible.
But it is not a Review at any cost. It is not an ultimate trophy.
A proper Constitutional Review done in good faith is worth every penny. But Batswana will immediately reject a couched process that demands of them unduly high trade-off.
A Constitutional Review should not be used as a guise to reverse our gains. It should not be used to reduce Botswana to an empty husk.
We should never forget for a second that politicians can be both ruthless and merciless at protecting their interests.
Commissioners so appointed should not be allowed to become placemen and women for political interests.
Critics, that include trade unions view the Commission as nothing more than a deceitful veneer.
The Commission is chaired by Maruping Dibotelo – a former Chief Justice not known for any iconoclasm.
He is a straight-jacketed, pro-establishment man and as such nobody, especially among the disadvantaged minority tribes should be holding their breath hoping that he might just come up with a report that mediates between the various contesting interest groups.
There are things in the current Constitution that are best retained.
Chief of these is a term limit for a State President. Removing this would provide ammunition to those who have looked at the whole process askance – arguing it was rigged right from the beginning.
If a thing as fundamental as term limits are removed then the whole exercise would indeed become a pyrrhic victory for Batswana.
Those in power should not think Batswana are brain dead.
They may seem disinterested. But they are watching.
What we need to achieve with this Review is to entrench Separation of Powers.
At the moment our parliament resembles a group of little boys playing with a toboggan – excited but in the main, directionless.
Parliament dances to the tune of the executive.
Everyone in it clamours to be promoted to become a minister.
Those already in cabinet vaguely see themselves as a special breed of Members of Parliament.
There are fears that in the end the Constitutional Review could undermine Batswana’s faith in Constitutionalism.
Those fears are not altogether unfounded.
