The issue of corruption in the wider body politic comes in many, different facets and will continue to do so as long as rhetoric as opposed to definitive measures are put in place. One of these definitive measures is the will and desire by the political leadership to ensure that corruption is dealt with without fear, favour or prejudice. Because political leadership is and has been preoccupied by too much rhetoric, I have finally come to the conclusion that President Mokgweetsi Masisi as the number one political leader has never been an anti- corruption champion and that he will ever be. And not that I ever believed he was because tell-tale signs were glaring once he assumed office.
Like other people, I gave him the benefit of doubt to turn the anti-corruption narrative around but regrettably, nothing is doing. It has become evident that attempts to deal with corruption have become so selective that only a certain group of people was and is still pursued and not others. People who are close to the President and embroiled in a myriad of serious allegations of corruption are on the face of it shielded at the expense of others. Such people are no lesser than the Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence Service (DIS) Rre Peter Magosi who since coming into office has cost government millions of Pula in unnecessary law suits.
The P 112 million out of court settlement paid to a Chinese construction is the case in point amongst others. He is also been accused of accusing every individual or company of corruption when he himself has a damaging docket from the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) on corruption and abuse of office. It is reported a vicious investigation is under way by Magosi to identify who leaked the docket to the public as seemingly, the said docket was supposed to be a topic secret owing to its explosive contents against him. To rub salt into the gaping and sceptic corruption wound, the Presidential Commission on the Review of the Botswana Constitution grew cold feed with regards to dealing with corruption in its latest report. While the Commissioners rightly acknowledge the serious misconduct of the DIS in interfering with the populace generally, they pitifully come short in providing concrete recommendations on how to stop this interference except to say the DIS must keep to its lane.
Those who follow my columns would have read an article titled ‘The Office of the President is a factory of corruption’. As if I knew it, Afrobarometer has just released a report in which it says ‘Despite Botswana’s standing as one of the least corrupt countries in Africa, citizen’s perceptions of corruption in the President’s office are at the highest level of the past decade’. (Underlining mine for emphasis). I should blow my trumpet that this report has vindicated me and many others. In the Afrobarometer report, a staggering 80% of Batswana surveyed are adamant Masisi’s office is the belly of corruption while only 6% believe otherwise. Highly expected, Hon Fidelis Molao was at pains in parliament last week to explain his doubts about the authenticity or lack thereof of the Afrobarometer findings.
Government is on record to quote international bodies like Transparency International for example when it says Botswana is the least corrupt country. She takes offence when reports are adverse. This past week as well, the Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng addressed the United Nations Anti-Corruption Day in which he asked the DCEC to pull its socks on dealing with corruption. How could Morwaeng make such a call when he dismally failed to provide leadership when DCEC Director General Tymon Katlholo asked for his protection when his offices were sealed by the DIS with the latter fighting tooth and nail to take custody of the files implicating Magosi from the DCEC? Only the hopelessly gullible would attach some body and soul to Morwaeng’s call.
The above are some of the few instances in which the President failed to show leadership that he is anti-corruption champion. This is in part demonstrated by his failure in his last two State of the Nation Addresses wherein the corruption issue was mentioned only in passing through two sentences or a paragraph. Opposition political parties have consistently proposed drastic corruption reforms in terms of legislation. That would include inter alia, complete removal of the DCEC from the Office of the President and, an independent moratorium to appoint and fire the Directors General of DIS and DCE respectively. Further to this opposition political parties insisted, the two institutions heads should be protected by security of tenure whereat these heads would not be appointed and fired willy-nilly by the President.
Under normal circumstances, I argue very strongly that if the President was indeed a champion of anti-corruption, Magosi would never have imagined, let alone carrying out a concerted effort to block Katlholo from taking Magosi to court on the strength of the docket on the latter. The law would have been allowed to take its course. When Katlholo cried out for protection from the President and his officials, the President should have been the first to do so on the basis that Katlholo by law, is the only State actor allowed to pursue corruption and other related malfeasance on anybody including Magosi. But sadly, DCEC is under the President’s watch confronted by all manner of self-created hurdles to achieve its mandate.
When the President went all out to lure Katlholo to come and head the DCEC, the expectation was that he would be accorded free rein to execute the mandate of the institution without political interference. When he showed the guts to enforce the law on the President’s close allay, he was indefinitely suspended on some of the most frivolous reasons. Six months down the line, Katlholo is still indefinitely suspended with the promised disciplinary action against him as per the provisions of the Public Service Act and to some extent the vision and mission statement of the Public Service Charter yet to be instituted.
It is against the above that I strongly argue President Masisi is neither an anti-corruption champion nor someone who is demonstrating compelling signs that he is capacitated to be so. The fact that a big chunk of Batswana through the Afrobarometer survey say his own office is a ‘factory of corruption’ all but confirms my proposition. Surveys over the past years from other bodies indicate corruption has progressively manifested. The inverse of this is that it is almost a given barring a miracle of epic proportions that fighting against corruption under the Masisi administration will remain a bridge too far. In the meantime, corruption will continue to rise exponentially with untold deleterious consequences to the much sought economic development Botswana desperately requires for the improvement of the livelihoods of Batswana. I am prepared to be persuaded otherwise as always. Judge for Yourself!
