Following a bumpy and apprehensive build up to the hotly contested 2014 general elections, reported extra judicial killings, media harassment by state, high unemployment, power and water shortages, and a waning confidence in the judicial system, Botswana still remains among the most peaceful nations in Africa, according to the Global Peace Index (GPI) survey 2015. The country ranks second only to Mauritius in Africa. But do these international surveys portray the real situation here in Botswana? Should this be a call for celebration? In his latest book, Delusions of Grandeur (Volume 2), former minister David Magang quoted University of Botswana’s Professor Brothers Malema who once wrote: Being the best among the worst is not something to be greatly proud of.
“The professor was referring to many A1 accolades international arbiters keep heaping on Botswana in the context of not the world but Africa,” Magang wrote, adding: “Botswana should aim to be among the cr├¿me de la cr├¿me on the globe in whatever it does and not exult in being a triton among typically African minnows.” The GPI is a product of Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), just one of the many global research institutions which have placed the country on a pedestal in relation to fellow African states. The GPI report says having stable state institutions is important to maintaining peace, with improvements in these institutions advancing what it calls ‘Positive Peace’. It says, however, that societal views and attitudes of how well these institutions function are also highly important for maintaining and supporting peace.
“Similarly, socially organised forms of cooperation and production can play an important role in supplanting formal institutions where they do not exist or are not properly functioning,” the report says. Adding that having a police force that violently maintains the rule of law which results in low levels of crime does not mean that the community will trust or utilise the police force to assist with solving crimes. “For a society to be peaceful, the community’s perception of the police must also be positive. Trust within a community and of the police and judiciary are an important part of proper functioning governance and rule of law,” the GPI report says. It says in countries where capacity is lacking in formal institutions, informal processes may also fill the void. “For instance, tribal justice and tribal courts are often more trusted by communities than what are seen as corrupt or insufficient national judicial systems.” Former Bakwena regent Kgosikwena Sebele does not trust the findings of international research institutions.
“I do not know the sources from which the findings by such institutions are based but I believe such reports still leave much to be desired as far as accuracy is concerned,” Sebele told Sunday Standard. “Do they have the right information?” he asked, rhetorically. He says there are many Batswana who are not particularly at peace with the status quo. “Ordinary Batswana have a lot of displeasure about the goings on in this country,” Sebele says. He says he wonders whether these surveys derive information from the right source or they are out to appease certain governments. “There is nothing peaceful about the public losing confidence in its own law enforcement institutions. Where citizens can just disappear in the custody of the very institutions that are meant to protect them,” he says. However, Sebele says his aim is not to paint the whole law enforcement system with the same brush as there are still those within the system who have respect for the rule of law. He says it is only a relative few who tarnish the name of the whole system.
Having been a victim of injustice himself Sebele believes the public has also lost confidence in the judicial system which he says more often than not seems to be biased towards the government at the expense of ordinary citizens. He attributes the injustices to some judicial officers who he accuses of abusing their powers and manipulating the system to serve personal interests.
Sebele says however that there are other factors that may have contributed to Batswana’s discontentment. “As compared to the previous decades there have been other contributors to the current situation that include population growth, urbanisation, and migration,” he said.
The GPI report says although cities can be very beneficial for development, especially in terms of improving economic opportunities for those living in urban areas and for rural communities as well, they can also be the site of heightened interpersonal and collective violence, which is reflected in increased homicide rates and gang activity. The PPI provides a foundation for researchers to deepen their understanding of the empirical relationships between peace, cultural factors, governance and economic development. It stands as one of the few holistic and quantitative based studies to isolate the positive factors which create and sustain peaceful societies.
