Two press releases from government caught my eye in the past week-one on the fire that broke out at Minister Kgotla Autlwetse’s residence in Serowe where his motor vehicle on his version was completely destroyed and his house slightly damaged and the other where the President’s four year anniversary in office was celebrated by releasing his achievements. These two press releases in my view demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that government communications unit is either manned by hopelessly poor communicators or that content to their communication is dictated to them from somewhere for whatever reason(s). Whatever the case, the end result is the same-not only poor but bad communication to the public which could be summed by the late Dr Chuba Okadigbo who said in part ‘If you cannot reason beyond petty sentiments, you are a liability to mankind’.
Let me begin by addressing the press release issued on 2nd April 2022 under the hand of one John-Thomas Dipowe who is the Acting Permanent Secretary Botswana Government Communications and Information Systems on the fire that broke out at Minister Autlwetse’s residence. The second paragraph of the said press release states ‘While Police investigations are still ongoing, the Government condemns in the strongest terms the politically motivated violence, which seeks to disturb the peace and tranquillity that our citizens continue to enjoy under our democratic dispensation’. I could not wonder but cringe at how a public officer in such a senior position presumably with the necessary wherewithal in the communications field could write this paragraph that is firstly unnecessary and secondly, grossly contradictory. How does the author say the police are investigating the fire and in the same breath say matter-of-factly it appears that the cause of the fire is politically motivated? The import of the politically motivated narrative implies it is only to do with politics as opposed to the common criminality that is rampant in our daily lives. As I write, Botswana Press Agency is reporting that three young men have been arrested and appeared at the Serome Magistrate’s court on charges of causing malicious damage to property. One expects the political motivation to emerge from these young men if at all.
It is common knowledge that Minister Autlwetse has a running battle with the Khama family and by extension some BaNgwato with regards to the fact that the latter group feels government is persecuting the family as a consequence of the feud between the former President and the incumbent President Masisi. Over and above this, the Minister recently wrote a strong-worded letter to Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane in which he read him the riot act on how to conduct himself in so far as the management of the Kgotla is concerned. Given the tension that is in the open between the Minister and the tribe, any reasonable person would jump to the conclusion that the fire at the Minister’s residence would have been sponsored and effected by those against the Minister or the President. It is against this contest that I presume the press release on politically motivated proposition is grounded. While this could be so from ordinary members of the public, would a whole government communications spokesperson stoop so low to make such pronouncement without providing the public with hard facts and evidence to support such proposition? Not by any wildest of the imagination. The only authority vested with the thorough investigations of the incident and what the outcomes thereof will be is the police service and no one else. Rre Dipowe is expected to know this. For him to have expressed an opinion on the cause of the fire as would the ordinary folk is simply unethical if not unprofessional. He may have been trying to impress his bosses and potentially and inadvertently at his own cost whatever that could be.
The next press release from government had to do with what it called the President’s Achievements since he assumed the position back in 2018. When I read through the listed achievements, I asked myself what an achievement is. My little understanding of the word is that an achievement is an outcome of a process. If my definition of an achievement is correct, it presupposes that most if not all the achievements listed therein are still matters in progress and cannot therefore be classified as achievements. Achievements in the context of this conversation will be those whose impact significantly change the lives of Batswana for the better. Very little if any and in terms of the listed achievements have had such impact. The majority of Batswana socio-economic circumstances are significantly regressing instead of progressing. Let me for example take the first category of Constitutional Review as my reference point. It is not in dispute that the President has commenced the review of the Constitution by appointing Commissioners led by the immediate past Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo together with the terms of reference. For God’s sake, the process is almost half way through its term and yet to present its report to the President. In fact, it still has five months or so to do so. How on earth can it be genuinely said the Constitutional Review process is an achievement when it is still ongoing? Even after presenting its report it must be said, the process of reviewing the Constitution will still be far away to be categorised as an achievement considering further processes that will have to follow to its logical conclusion. It is a well-known fact that notwithstanding the Constitutional Review process currently running, the process itself is devoid of the expected legitimacy and credibility from a cross section of critical stakeholders like opposition political parties and civil society groups.
Conspicuously but not surprising, only the imagined achievements are listed while the accompanying failures are ignored. The achievements as listed in the press release seek to portray the President as the all-conquering individual who has against all odds, prevailed where some in his position and circumstances would have failed. It is a disservice to the President himself because in the public eye, it is all hunky-dory. It would have been fair for the press release to be objective for the general public to which such press release is intended had failures been listed so as to objectively judge and measure the President. No reasonable person would expect the President to have had smooth sailing of sorts in advancing the political and socio-economic circumstances of Botswana. But to project such smooth sailing without mentioning failures is disingenuous and in bad faith. Botswana is faced with serious challenges like rising levels of unemployment, poverty, inequalities, corruption and so on. To this end, the President is far off the mark to make meaningful breakthroughs.
In the final analysis, the government communications unit should up its game in communicating coherent messages to the public which messages are not second guessed. The press release at paragraph two on the unfortunate fire that broke out at Minister Autlwetse’s residence in Serowe is in bad taste in so far as it seeks to suggest without evidentiary proof that the incidence was as a result of political motivation of sorts. The announcement of the President’s achievements after four years in office is grossly misleading in the context of the definition of the word achievement if my definition as provided above is anything to go by. I am prepared to be persuaded otherwise as always. Judge for Yourself!
‘No one is safe until everyone is safe’. Covid-19 safety protocols and vaccines still remain our best defence to the ravaging pandemic.
