They invest much time spewing raw lies and divisive politics never heard of before. They have unfettered license to defame political opponents and all those who seek to differ with them and/or criticise their leader. These are the zealots, wasted souls, diabolical architects of gutter politics, ungrateful motor-mouthed, con artists-cum-hungry wolves who fit the description of political perverts. Every political party has its own wing nuts but I do not think that there are any that compares with the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) fanatics. The BDPs’ wing nuts are the loudest, most bigoted and full of themselves for nothing other than stealing from the national treasury with pride. As a result, people who matter most and have the wherewithal to propel Botswana to greater heights have given up after realizing that in Botswana politics is all about being dishonest, being a cheeky thief and boasting about it.
The wing nuts first call of port is to widely broadcast their love for their party leader which translates into an unshaken love for their political party. The next standard trick often involves convincing the gullible that all other people who are not registered members or sympathizers of the BDP are unpatriotic, illegitimate and deserve to remain impoverished and/or eliminated if need be. Their trick also involves convincing people that opposition party members are out to sell off Botswana and that you should do something really out of the ordinary to ensure that Botswana remains under the stewardship of the BDP. Their obsession with partisan politics specifically their love for the party leader has caused them to love the BDP more than they love their country ÔÇô Botswana. Wherever they are, be it a wedding celebration, funeral, memorial service, stag party and so forth, they talk about their party leader and the benefits of being BDP. Their love for the BDP is hardly sincere but borders on treachery for it seems to suggest that there is no life outside of the BDP.
Instead of showing a passionate love for Botswana, instead of taking pride in being a Motswana and instead of showing a genuine concern for the country’s well-being and that of fellow citizens, they publicly and loudly proclaim their undying, unmatched supreme love for the BDP. Throughout my adult life, I have known many people who breathed BDP, people who had BDP in their blood, people who had what could be termed ‘native’ BDP blood in their veins. Nevertheless, these BDP diehards paid allegiance to the country not their political sect. Many have retired from active politics and have been grouped as the Council of Elders thus ceding politics to demagogues, rabid opportunists and political pimps.
Many of today’s BDP youthful members are an outright embarrassment and this is partly because many of them go into politics right straight from the maternity ward. They have made politics their profession though they have no minimum qualification or the smallest experience whatsoever for the vocation. Their lack of political education and a bare minimum experience causes them to wrongly believe that Botswana came after the BDP and therefore the BDP comes first in the order of precedence which is why they take pride in being BDP first and foremost before acknowledging that they are citizens of Botswana.
These wing nuts make people believe that you cannot love Botswana without a rabid affection for the BDP first of all. This is pretty mischievous and dangerous and should be a source of great discomfort for true patriots. In order to contextualize this scenario, let us start by this question: why on earth would an individual love a political party more than their country? Of course this can only be possible and logical if one is convinced beyond any shadow of doubt that their allegiance to the party is more rewarding, profitable and expedient than loyalty to the country. Be that as it is, the implication is that the zealots are better served by party identity than national identity. This should provide an explanation why politics in Botswana continue to grow negative and divisive with the BDP practically becoming the pride of hungry wolves and a wild pack of never-full infants. Essentially, the BDP presumed to be more important and preferable than Botswana hence the nut wings care and identify more with their BDP than our Botswana.
While a passionate or proud association with one’s political grouping is ordinarily acceptable and standard practice, it is contended that people who love their political parties more than their country are less likely to be loyal to their countries and would invariably have no problem plundering their national economies because the country does not offer private benefits that political parties offer to individual members. People who love their political parties more than they do love their country would have no qualms sabotaging their nation – in fact that is what they are always willing and often do whenever they do not get what they want. This explains why BDP members do have the courage to curse civil service who undertake to be impartial and professional and refuses to favour the ruling party. On the other hand, BDP would not have the slightest courage to question the decisions of the party leader even when they are convinced that such decisions are disastrous and have the potential to destroy the nation’s economy.
It is a hard fact that whenever people take pride in their country they would not destroy it themselves but would feel a personal responsibility toward securing its future. In the case of BDP wing nuts and their unusual love for their BDP, what it means is that BDP is more important than Botswana hence the need to invest heavily in securing its future at the expense of the country. However, the truth is that the BDP exists because of Botswana and the wing nuts have what they have because there happens to be a country that is home to them and have given them the opportunity to explore their potentials including being rogues. In other words, leaders of all shapes and makes do come and go; political parties will form, change slogans, change their evil-tongued propagandists, change manifestos or even disband but Botswana has no such luxuries.
This is exactly why the behaviour and mode of operation of the wing nuts is worrisome and scary. Thus, the high levels of thieving, embezzlement and corruption is a scenario best explained by BDP members’ love for their BDP rather than their country. While this behaviour goes on roughly the same extent on the opposition bloc the reality that the BDP has the key to the national purse and therefore can and do steal with impunity means that theirs is a matter of life and death. Their unprecedented love for their party is a threat to national prosperity, peace and stability.
The wing nuts have basically lost any sense of belonging to the Botswana society and have fundamentally lost any sense of personal responsibility for national prosperity. They are thus committed to stealing as much as they can from the national treasury precisely because Botswana matters very little to them. Fundamentally, the wing nuts have transformed the BDP into a criminal organization that specializes in initiating infants discharged from the maternity wards into a life of dishonesty, banditry, sycophancy, and excitable fidgety. The wing nuts have successfully transformed the BDP into a parasitic organization that feeds on its host ÔÇô Botswana. The day we stop loving our political parties and their leaders and start loving our country first and foremost, is the day that our individual and collective vision would be driven by Botswana values. This shall be the moment when bad people repent and generate a love for their country more than the evil lust to rule and loot the country.
Essentially, this criminal and parasitic love for the party and its leader at the expense of the country must change.
*Dipholo is a professor at the University of Botswana
