There seems to be too much euphoria surrounding the choice of Ponatshego ‘PHK’ Kedikilwe as the country’s Vice President; that his is an appointment based on merit and that considerable faith is placed on him to deliver this country from near heaven.
No doubt PHK is a decorated administrator and politician. His experience both as a bureaucrat and a politician is unsurpassed which makes him a special talent indeed.
However, I have fears that our expectations on him as VP are misplaced and infantile. This column has previously argued that the Office of the Vice President is moribund and has, to a greater extent, been discredited by its past proprietors (We Could do Without the Office of the Vice President – Sunday Standard, 28 ÔÇô 04 October 2008).
In his two part offering that was run in Mmegi a fortnight ago, former Parliamentary Counsel Lizo Ngcongco also highlighted this issue arguing that appointing a star performer to the Office of the Vice President would be a luxury which this nation can ill afford.
This essay seeks to highlight three critical issues that are likely to compromise PHK’s abilities and talents and in some big ways render him an absolute failure.
First, we need to remind ourselves that the image of the Vice Presidency has been damaged to the extent that few people take it seriously. In fact, during Mompati Merafhe’s reign as VP, the Office of the VP metamorphosed into a kind of a shebeen whose owner resembled a celebrated hooligan often too willing to issue threats and engage in senseless squabbles on behalf of President Khama. His many embarrassing comments such as when he referred to a colleague in Parliament as a village idiots did well to shame the Office of the VP and nation at large.
Thus, the Office of the VP evokes derision among serious people and unless PHK consciously make concerted efforts to reconstruct its image, he is likely to be taken for another cynical ball boy who is on a state sponsored wild vacation. This means that at the initial stages, PHK must preoccupy himself with cleaning the mess left by his predecessor and assure the nation that the Office of the VP still has relevance in the daily administration of the country.
However, this shake up will require considerable time and resources considering that Merafhe has really done well to consolidate the perception that the office is perfect for those who can excel in getting angry on behalf of others.
Related to the above point, PHK’s talents and abilities are likely to go to waste precisely because the Office of the VP has no defined duties and responsibilities which make it virtually impossible for the incumbents to apply their talents and draw on their vast experiences. Other than the simple fact that he has ascended to the second most prestigious post in the country, PHK would do well to accept from the onset that he is going to be treated like a VIP while in actual fact he is no better than someone paid to pick up dog poo.
Former US Vice President John Nance Garner once said that ‘the Vice Presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss’. Another former US Vice President John Adams described the position as ‘the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived’.
Other than being treated as a second citizen and enjoying the perks of being a VP whilst waiting for the death of the incumbent, the vice presidency can be an insult especially to people of substance like PHK. In fact, the office would suits any dirty street urchin who would be overjoyed to attend state funerals on behalf of the state president or any scoundrel who could jump as high as President Khama asks them.
The third issue that is likely to render PHK useless is the reality that the overall success of the Vice President depend almost entirely on the character of the regime and personality of the incumbent especially his/her propensity to be brainless.
For instance, President Khama’s administration is based on highly centralized machinery that does not give room for maneuver. A highly centralized and personalized administrative structure has very limited space for innovation and creativity.
Specifically, a centralized mode of operation requires the VP to merely mimic the state president such that when the President takes an unreasonable hard line stand on any issue such as alcohol, the VP has to do likewise. This perhaps explains why the immediate past VP seemed to have been enjoying his job. Essentially, he excelled at impersonating and deflecting criticism away from President Khama.
I am not sure if PHK has the skill to ape erratically which is why I think he is not the best man for the job, at least in its present formation. As of now, the Vice Presidency would be ideal for deadwood, rabid bootlickers and people whose mental state has defied our evolution into modern human beings.
Consequently, given the fact that the VP merely plays a complimentary role as well as taking cognizant of the relatively low impact work assigned to the VP’s office, it is very unlikely that PHK could make any difference. In fact, he is most likely to retire as a grumpy bitter fellow who was mischievously asked to fill an insignificant but seemingly prestigious vacancy. The Office of the VP is likely to make him an object of scorn and cause his star to fade away like an evening shadow.
This will allow President Khama to maintain and consolidate his bogus status in Botswana politics as the greatest politician after his father.
To avoid embarrassment, PHK must be advised never to pretend to be having power and authority but rather sit back, play dead and enjoy the freebies.
