Thursday, November 7, 2024

Diplomatic isolation undermines efforts to break through international job market

Last year, Attorney General, Dr Atthaliah Molokomme lost in her bid to get an executive position at the international Criminal Court. We attributed that to failure by our government, especially at the level of Head of State to lobby for Dr Molokomme. We all know why the President could not personally lobby for Dr Molokomme. Our President hardly attends summits that are attended by other Heads of state. This has meant that we are as a country isolated.

 

Our memories are still fresh on how the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma crisscrossed Africa as he campaigned for Nkosazan Dlamini Zuma to become the head of the African Commission. President Zuma even came to Botswana twice ÔÇô albeit only for a few hours. We know how hard we have in previous instances struggled to get President Zuma to visit. He had to postpone the visit many times after a first leg that had seen President Ian Khama travel to Pretoria. But still the point was made. President Zuma was not leaving anything to chance. He wanted the African Union post for his country. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma is his former wife. Rather it reflected how seriously South Africa took the position.

 

Dr Molokomme was up against highly qualified and experienced contenders. But with a little more diplomatic push from the highest office in her country, she stood a good chance. But as it, Dr Molokomme’s campaign was dead long before it even hatched. It died what can be called a stillborn death. As we speak, yet two more women are trying to get high positions at international bodies. There is Dr Gloria Somolekae who wants to become an executive member of UNESCO. Then there is also Mmasekgowa Masire-Mwamba who wants to become the Secretary General of Commonwealth.

 

Like that position that was sought by Dr Molokomme, these two positions are very senior international jobs. They are the kind of jobs that one does not get unless they get active backing from their country. Thankfully in both incidents, the Government of Botswana has come out to openly say they back and endorse both candidates. Such endorsement are important; But they are not enough. What is important is for a person no less than the Head of State to embark on a global road show to lobby and campaign for these two candidates who, like Dr Molokomme are also facing stiff contest.

 

Such a road show by a sitting Head of State is particularly important today given Botswana’s diminished status in the eyes of the international world. We no longer are what we used to be. Where in the past we were the beacon of democracy, economic prudence and low corruption, the truth of the matter is that today we are increasingly viewed very much as a part of the African mix. This makes our efforts to attract attention much harder. Today not much of the world looks up to us as a beacon of civility, democracy of individual liberty. Our foreign policy is no longer about the ideals and principles we have become famous for. Rather that policy is now predicated on the personal values and favorite past times of just one man.

 

Last week’s statement about poaching in Zimbabwe best sums our foreign policy. Because our President is passionate about conservation, then nothing else matters. Because the frontiers of individual rights and personal liberties have so significantly shrunk in our country, we no longer have the moral authority to be a beacon of such rights abroad. This is the dilemma facing such people like Dr Molokomme, Dr Somolekae and Masire-Mwamba. While for them failing to get these jobs may be personally painful, the truth of the matter is that it is not about them but rather about their country in the eyes of the global community. This is a reality that we all have to contend.

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