The memoirs of our second president – Sir Ketumile Masire is possibly the best available book on how one builds a democratic nation parallel with an economy that benefits the vast majority of citizens.
The book shares insights on how our leaders at the time tackled Botswana’s economic and geopolitical problems immediately after we stopped being dependent on Great Britain. Our economic and geopolitical situation at the time was desperate hence when Masire and others asked for independence they were told they were “either very brave or very foolish” to do so. Today as I write this Botswana’s geo-political and economic situation is as desperate as it was in 1966 if not worse than then. In modern, independent Botswana, those that are poor are now living with feelings of worthlessness, anger and frustration due to lack of jobs, land and business opportunities. Their foreign counterparts, either living here or elsewhere are in a better space economically. In modern, independent Botswana an unfair distribution of opportunities is now a huge factor behind a fractured society that the nation is turning into. Some political economists have over the years published articles about the rising economic inequality in Botswana. Some academics have even suggested that changes in legislation could be a launching pad to end the economic disparities. In response, our current leader – President Mokgweetsi Masisi has since settled for a government machinery rationalisation exercise under the RESET AGENDA. The rationalisation exercise that the Masisi administration is about to undertake is either very brave or very foolish. Very brave because we are overdue for reforms that can rationalize not just state agencies but the public expenditure as well. President Masisi’s rationalisation exercise, if well implemented, will eliminate structure ambiguities, functional duplications and overlaps at the government enclave. All these are key issues that socio-economic commentators have for the longest time been talking and writing about – the need to overhaul the big government machinery. The price of failing to rationalize has resulted in high income inequality. For the longest time inequality in Botswana – the number one enemy has been glaring, and to win against it we need reforms that will results in tangible outcomes.
In his book ‘Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding’, author Daniel Moynihan notes: “The role of social science lies not in the formulation of social policy, but in the measurement of results”. This is to say changing ministries names and realigning their portfolios by the Masisi administration will only prove to be a ‘brave’ move if the end results would be many jobs, plenty serviced land and an efficient and inclusive business funding.
The Masisi rationalisation exercise will however prove to be a foolish if at the end of it business remains ‘the usual’, where many Batswana who seek service at government enclave are told, ‘system is down’, ‘there is no money’, ‘the director is at workshop, so no one can sign for you’, ‘the waiting list is still long’, etc. President Masisi’s rationalisation exercise will prove foolish if it cannot take advantage of the nation’s intellectual capital. President Masisi says his RESET AGENDA was partially inspired by the Covid 19 pandemic. But even before the arrival of Covid 19, in the global space, the foundation of industrial economies had already shifted focus from “natural resources” (like diamonds) to Intellectual assets. (e.g. innovation). As such, to be competitive, as a country or nation we need to harness our people’s Intellectual capital otherwise the rationalisation will prove to be foolish. Instead of producing only industrial workers who produce material goods, we should also have “knowledge” workers who create immaterial products such as knowledge, communication, or even an emotional RESPONSE. On Friday Thulaganyo Segokgo was named as the minister responsible for ‘Knowledge’. We do not know exactly what that means or what President Masisi has in mind in terms of what Segokgo as the leader of that ministry should do. One can only hope that it is not just a lip service or a phrase like ‘diversification’, ‘fourth industrial revolution’ and many others catch phrases that have been thrown around in the past several years. Many nations around the globe are now pouring billions of monies into increasing their “knowledge intensiveness” and if the Masisi rationalisation exercise does not guide our strategy on how we too can reap from it then it is a foolish undertaking. Our national vision should be clear in terms of what we want for citizens of Botswana in this fast-moving but vulnerable world economy. There is no doubt that citizen economic empowerment is critical for any country that seeks long term success. Masisi administration’s decision to create a ministry that will be responsible for entrepreneurship under the rationalisation exercise is commendable but it is not sufficient. There is a lot of ground work that need to be done. Creating new ministries or new pieces of legislation on their own are not solutions to the socio-economic problems that Batswana are facing now. It would be very foolish to think that shifting government cabinet on its own without tangible results will help jerk many of our people from the bottom of the economic ladder where a majority is now. The success of any nation should be assessed only by looking at what is happening to the living standards of most of its citizens over a sustained period of time. Question is, what do we see when we look at the living standards of Batswana since the days that the late President Masire and others were told, “very brave or very foolish’? Does the standard in anyway suggest that we have in the past changed names of ministries and their mandates? The answer lies in the fact that life remains particularly harsh at the bottom of the income structure despite all the rationalisation exercises that were carried by leaders that came before President Masisi. The #Bottomline is that President Masisi’s rationalisation exercise if well implemented will prove to be ‘brave’, while anything far from provision of jobs, land and money to Batswana will surely be a foolish move.
