There is always a lesson to learn or a bitter-sweet reminder to everything that is happening around us. This week the global news headlines were focused on the war between world power – Russia and her neighbour Ukraine. This is a war that has a huge potential to once again disrupt the resuscitation of the world economy. Russia is a big player in the energy sector globally. Not just that, Russia also competes directly with the likes of Botswana on diamond production. So the war in that country should either remind us of some lessons or teach us something if not force us to act in a certain strategic way. From where I stand, the bitter reminder that comes with that war is that we can no longer cushion ourselves against rising oil prices. This war has resulted in surging oil prices which reached a historic $105 per barrel on Thursday. The news of surging global oil prices triggered the 2017 local news headlines relating to the management of our national petroleum fund or NPF as we all call it. Because of the 2017 headlines and what happened around then, it appears that the NPF can no longer meet its statutory obligations.
This is unfortunate and should never be allowed to happen again. As it stands, whenever there is a rise in prices of oil, consumers here at home are sure to dig deep into their pockets. This would not be the case if a group of friends did not decide to turn themselves into financial vultures, misusing the NPF monies that were to build key strategic fuel depots and cushion consumers against high oil prices. As I write this we are now left with nothing but vague statements of intent and non-binding targets. We are frequently treated to statements meant for media consumption with no deliverables or timeliness to it. It’s been ages that we been told by our government about plans to use NPF monies to construct fuel depot in Gantsi and Francistown which would help in storage and possibly translate to cushioned fuel prices. The Russian – Ukraine war serves as a reminder that we still do not have those. But guess who gets to lose most? : The poor members of our society.
They are the ones who still need and use paraffin to cook. They are the ones who will be hard hit by a possible rise to P20 per litre fuel prices in the future. The Russian – Ukraine war is just a reminder of our social justice as a nation. The United Nations defines Social justice as an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. Each year on February 20 the world takes a pause to reflect on the state of Social justice across different countries. Given that we want to draw lessons for this war, the question that we should be asking ourselves is whether the current state of Social Justice in our country is leading us towards stability or instability.
In our attempt to answer the question of whether our current state of Social Justice is leading us towards stability or instability, we should be willing to openly discuss all the possible outcomes. We don’t need rocket science to understand the anger and resentment that could come with poverty-related exclusions from opportunities for people who have played by the rules. It is a well-known fact that Botswana have been classified as a peaceful nation for so many years. This – to a larger extend is due to the people who, despite being discriminated by the system chose to “play by the rules”.
The question is whether these people can afford to continue playing by the rules when it is no longer a rewarding undertaking. Can they continue to play the rules when a battle line between the haves and the have-nots has already been drawn? As we seek to make sense on what Russia-Ukraine war could mean to our livelihoods, we have to also make assessment of some of the social welfare programmes that the government developed and implemented over the past several years. What difference has these programmes made in the lives of those who have not been given equal opportunities over the years?
Some of people, more especially the ruling elite often get excited with the increasing numbers of people that get opportunities in the labour intensive or public works programs such as Ipelegeng. What these people actually don’t realise is that, in so doing, it is celebrating that too many people will continue to live lives devoid of human dignity. The #Bottomline is that we should never forget that the unfair distribution of opportunities in our country is a huge factor behind the fractured society we are turning into.
