Trust generally rests on an understanding between the government and those who are governed, which understanding is that government would do it part and people do theirs in expectation of beneficial outcomes.
In that respect, trust is a springboard for pulling together in what is often called rally-round-the-flag phenomenon, the effect of which is increased for usually unpopular decisions, at least in the short term.
This rally-round-the-flag behaviour pattern can be used to explain Batswana’s voluntary call for government to enforce stay-at-home orders and the initial upsurge of support for and compliance with restrictive health protocols initiated at the onset of the COVID-19.
To this extent, members of the public are most likely to have complied with the restrictive public health orders because they trusted their government to do the right things to mitigate the spread of the disease and keep morbidity levels at their lowest.
While lockdown orders have been relaxed, some health measures such as restrictions on mass gatherings, leisure travels, social distancing and so forth are still in effect for the purpose of reducing the spread of the disease even though infections have shot through the roof.
Realizing that vaccines are our only long term hope but that their rollout is at best irregular and chaotic, compliance with public health orders remain our best weapon for risk management.
However, most of these health protocols such as orders prohibiting visitations, family events with potential for mass gatherings, washing hands and so forth, are very difficult to enforce especially in a democracy like ours.
To a larger extent, the success of these health restrictions in helping the government manage COVID-19 risk depends on the extent to which people voluntarily obey them. To that extent, the effectiveness of the Government of Botswana’s response to COVID-19 largely depends on the degree of citizen compliance with health regulations.
Moreover, the extent to which people voluntarily obey such orders as restrictions on movements and gathering depends on laypeople’s trust on government and its institutions.
Thus, trust in government is a huge factor in whether people would choose to comply with health order that limit civil liberties.
Whereas trust in government has been declining over the last few years, the threat presented by COVID-19 perhaps gave people hope that at least on a matter as grave as a pandemic, a matter of death and life, government wouldn’t dice with people’s lives hence they trusted those in-charge of the affairs of the state.
Thus, at the onset of the pandemic, people gave the government the benefit of doubt in what explains why the public welcomed restrictive order but have since assumed a radical attitude and disapprove of the government’s responses to the point of refusing to comply.
Thus, for restrictive health regulations to work, people need to trust their leaders who promulgate the regulations. If those who are required to comply do not trust that those who made the rules will play by the same rules, they are most likely to view the regulations with suspicion and ultimately flaunt them.
The public initial hope that government would do things differently must have been eroded when corruption reports relating to the COVID-19 fund started flooding media spaces essentially because trust in government is largely eroded by corruption.
Thus, when stories started flying that privileged people with connections to the ruling elites were feeding from the COVID-19 funds, it must have been a stark reminder that a leopard never changes its spot – that the government can never be trusted
When it eventually became evident that the COVID-19 Relief Fund accounts have been cleaned with little to show as return on investment, people who have always seen their leaders as dishonest, corrupt and self-serving, started losing what remained of their faith in government.
The disappointment over government’s handling of the pandemic actually emanates from lack of trust in government rather than inefficient government responses. Generally, when people distrust their leaders, they imagine the worst case scenario such as where the law of the jungle is in full effect.
This is what happened when at the onset of the pandemic people believed that their government would intercede for them but later realized that they have been duped and were on their own.
The absolute loss of trust in government meant that people lost all the confidence in the rules that were promulgated to regulate human behaviour for purposes of containing the disease hence they believed that COVID-19 meant that it was every man for himself and God for us all.
Precisely, what it meant is that when laypeople completely lost faith in their government, they also lost the motivation to comply with health protocols meant to save lives. With limited trust in government, the changes in behaviour that were necessary to contain the spread of disease have been difficult to sustain hence infections and deaths ballooned to overwhelm the health system.
Lower levels of trust in government tend to make the enforcement of restrictive orders cumbersome because when laypeople do not play their part in obeying rules that they suspect have a hidden agenda, ..
As a matter of fact, trust increases compliance with lawful orders which suggests that lower compliance levels are a result of lack of trust in government.
It has already been highlighted that public trust in government in Botswana has been declining over the last few years. Such distrust of government has permeated relations between citizens such that to live in Botswana is like living in a society where people view each other with unconditional suspicion to the extent that very few motorists would stop to help road accident victims for fear of being hijacked or sexually molested.
When people believe that restrictive orders are meant for the lesser mortals, they tend to improvise to game the system as a matter of their survival. When laypeople conclude that the law and regulations favour high profile people as when such high profile people lay and pound young school girls with facing the consequences of their actions, when high profile people are fingered in blockbuster corruption cases but always walk scot free, they lose trust in the entire government system to the point where decide to do as their role models do.
The level of mistrust has grown so exponentially that citizens do not know who is the credible expert among the many experts. When people do not know who to trust and have to contend with mixed messaging from their government, they become vulnerable to fake news and conspiracy theorists who take advantage of the confusion to propagate their weird theories and misconceptions leading laypeople to disregard the order to wear masks, keep the distance and vaccine.
Recognizing the centrality of public trust in government as the foundation for a beneficial relationship between government and the governed; recognizing that without it compliance with lawful orders and/or adherence with public health protocols that are difficult to enforce would be hard to achieve and sustain, the authorities must start appreciating the importance of having a government that people do trust and have faith in it.
In the long term, and in the interest of our concerted efforts in the fight against COVID-19 and other pandemics, the Government of Botswana must invest in comprehensive measures that are aimed at restoring trust in government institutions. In the meantime, the rising COVID-19 infection levels mean that we shall continue to squat in front of the gates of hell.
