The Minister of Defence, Ndelu Seretse, is having a time of his life.
President Ian Khama, apparently a close cousin, has left it to him to pontificate on almost every sphere of public policy ÔÇô from judicial appointments to national security, from foreign affairs to extra judicial killings and, lately, to issues of law reform as when he stood before the House of Chiefs this week to lamely justify constitutional amendments increasing the number of Specially Nominated Members of Parliament from four to eight.
No wonder a section of the ruling party has become increasingly jealous of him – suspicious that this one time army Brigadier is being carefully put through his paces to one day take over the highest office in the land.
His name frequently crops up as a senior member of the President’s innermost circle; not a bad achievement at all given Botswana’s increasingly rancid body politic.
Connections in high places have never been more important in Botswana’s political economy.
In all fairness to him, Seretse, we learn is a lawyer by training. But still in private he must be asking himself just what other attributes he has (other than a surname linking him to the ruling dynasty) as to have been able to achieve such an exponential rise as to be such a key figure sitting near the apex of power.
I giggled my lungs out as I watched on BTV senior Members of the House of Chiefs denounce and repudiate the increase in the number of Specially Elected MPs.
This time around not even Seretse’s fast rising political celebrity status could be counted to win the Chiefs over.
Given their customary docility vis-à-vis government, it was like watching the Chiefs break and dance on the pieces of their idol.
“It’s hell nonsense,” they almost said in unison.
Even with the current four, this special arrangement has proved divisive, elitist, archaic and, lately, insane.
“Are opposition parties also going to benefit from the system?” A rather youthful looking traditional leader asked rhetorically on the BTV news item.
A great question, I said to myself.
For once I smiled with pride that for the first time in many years, we have traditional leaders who are asking relevant questions.
A hundred percent increase will, to be certain, leave our democratic credentials in tatters.
The problem though is that, as the voting public, nobody has told us in honest terms just why Specially Nominated MPs have to be increased from four to eight.
Worse, nobody tells us why we still need this old system that does not only distort elections outcome but also goes as far as to dilute democracy itself.
We are not told how many of the eight will be coming from the opposition benches.
This is criminal.
An explanation, or should one say, a lie has been tendered that the increase is meant to empower women.
If there are any women who derive any delights at being beneficiaries of such unbridled tokenism, why not make all the four appointees such token women rather than increase the number by 100%.
When almost a year ago some of us started muttering that Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe was fast becoming Botswana’s destination, we were dismissed as infernal cynics who were out to discredit President Ian Khama every turn of the way.
Now, even the blind can see. Other than that, the new system will further distort the country’s electoral fortunes, in favour of the ruling party, this supposed BDP largesse is set to further polarize the ruling party.
Our biggest undoing as a nation is that we have entrusted all of our future as a people in the hands of just a few overly powerful elitist politicians.
When such politicians fail, as they seem destined to do this time around, we inevitably fail with them. That is the tragedy with our kind of democracy.
People have very little power against the leaders.
Before he was admitted back into cabinet, Ponatshego Kedikilwe had noticed a motion calling for the abolition of Specially Nominated councilors. This group, over two hundred of them across the nation, is a lesser breed of their cousin MPs.
Other than that such councilor beneficiaries often tend to artificially influence the outcome of the BDP congress elections, I personally would not waste a minute on them because a great majority of councilors are, with due respect, nothing much more than semi-illiterate piccanins.
Attention should start at parliament, before going down to where there is no power to talk about.
Ultimately, the objective should be to change our electoral systems with particular reference to directly electing the State President.
As it were, the case for a directly elected President has now become irrefutable.
Minister Seretse should use his new found power and prestige to push us in that direction.
