I read with interest an article yesterday on the Sunday Standard newspaper penned by Tanonoka Joseph Whandetitled “Give us Khama and UDC; we give you Mugabe and MDC” (29/03/15). Whande comes across unimpressed by the situation in Zimbabwe, especially the political developments or lack thereof in his home country. While that will be expected from him, he is not equally attracted to the happenings this side of the border. The politics in Botswana, he worries, are also going down south and, in the process, leaves the country vulnerable to all kinds of ills. In short, Batswana or should I say their political leaders, engages in exactly the same actions that have rendered Zimbabwe a hopeless nation. He concludes “Botswana, look up! Zimbabwe is giving you lessons every day; please pay attention.”
I was not surprised by Whande’s observations. Actually, the challenge with Botswana goes beyond politics. Ours is a nation in a downfall at all facets of life. We are becoming a hopeless nation. A failed state largely because of the kind of leadership we have entrusted with the responsibility of guiding and providing direction for this nation. But they are failing us in a big way to a point where sooner than later we will join the league of failed states. And recent developments suggest we are moving in that direction too quick for many to comprehend.
I happened to be in attendance at Cresta Lodge last week where Afrobarometer released results for round 6 surveys they undertook last year. The picture painted by the results was actually worrisome. They talked of a nation at crossroads. The results indicate that most Batswana believe that political institutions are involved in corruption, and over time this perception has increased. In figure terms the picture becomes even worse ÔÇô 81% of Batswana perceive government officials to be involved in corruption, followed by 77% for MPs and councillors. The juicy part was reserved for the highest office in the land: 70% of Batswana perceive the President and his officials to be corrupt. We should get worried as a nation.
Unfortunately, the impression I got from those holding high offices in the land – who were in attendance at the presentation – was that they were not anyhow bothered by such revelations. We were made to believe by them, as usual, that contrary to what Afrobarometer was saying the situation in Botswana in relation to corruption was not that bad. To illustrate the point, the senior government official would narrate to us how a government minister from somewhere in Africa came to a conference with a bag full of money. Why he brough the money we are not told. But that act in itself demonstrated what is truly meant by corruption according to our government senior official. Talk of taking Batswana for granted. Who would ever forget the reported millions which were taken to one local bank on a vehicle? Did the senior government official choose deliberately to forget that incident? Let us be frank with ourself; ours is a country slowly but surely adopting the same practises that have taken many African states down the drain. And the bigger problem is that somehow we expect to be different from the rest in the continent.┬á
Unless we come up with strong measures to solve current challenges nothing will save this country. In terms of what needs to be done to arrest the growing problem of corruption, 84% of Batswana want the president to appear before parliament to account. They also mentioned other actions that could help curb this cancer, for instance, 75% of them support for a law on declaration of assets and liabilities by top echelon of government, ministers, MPs and the president. But our parliament appears not bothered if developments over the past two weeks are anything to go by.
The developments in our parliament over the past two weeks or so say a lot about the future of this country. A non-issue was treated as an emergency. Those who were not paying attention, our parliament engaged in a debate of regulating churches! In a surprising fashion our parliament has come out a vibrant place, where MPs were not shy to make their voices heard. We came to know, rightly so, that our political leaders can engage passionately on matter brought before them. The House, unfortunately, was instantly transformed into a place of heated debate on an inconsequential matter. Instead of focusing on more pressing issues such as reducing the growing corruption, lack of water and electricity, job losses and many other important matters facing this nation, parliament placed much focus on regulating churches. How sad and hopeless we have allowed ourselves as a people to decline so drastically in such a short space of time?
The country is on fire and parliament can only pay more interest on fire churches? The bigger question remains, why is parliament not attending passionately to greater challenges with far reaching implications for this country? In here, as a nation, we are facing a cliff but parliament chose to look the other way. We are literally going through the worst nightmare in the history of our nation, but our political leaders opt to make ordinary matters extraordinary. Some would even break their glasses while others threatened to walk naked. One thing for sure is that something has to be done to stop the bleeding before it’s too late for this nation. And parliament needs to take the lead. After all, they are the only people we have directly elected to represent our interests as Batswana. Otherwise their silence can only facilitate the eventual end of Botswana as we have come to know it.
To avoid the catastrophe we currently find ourselves facing as a nation, we need to introspect. We also need to learn from others and see where they lost track. And there are plenty of those cases, including up north as suggested by Whande. Sadly, no one is prepared to listen to warnings from many who have faulted those in charge of the republic, especially our parliamentarians. Certainly, our MPs need to refocus on priorities areas that carry a potential to restore past success that is fast becoming part of history lessons in our schools.
