Since its inception this column has consistently criticized President Dr Khama’s leadership for paralyzing the Botswana economy, being vindictive, divisive and personalized. In spite of the relentless criticism from all corners including criticism by his closest aides, President Dr Khama has maintained his rigid leadership style that has shaped a disastrous legacy ÔÇô a nightmare; a presidency to forget. While he may have been a popular figure especially in the countryside, his executive decisions have been notoriously lousy, ambivalent and excessively partisan as to be overly unpatriotic. The assessment of a presidency normally takes into account accomplishments or failures for the entire term(s) in office.
However, the final years are the most defining moments in the legacy of the presidency. The final years offer a rare opportunity to take bold and decisive action unencumbered by parochial partisan considerations. President Dr Khama have had a turbulent time in office with his presidency risking becoming an enduring part of dashed hopes and national pessimism. Nevertheless, he still has a chance to redeem himself and close out his presidency on a high and make his a time to remember.
In this piece, I present an operational initiative through which President Dr Khama could compensate for much of his battered presidency. I intend to do so using the framework for evaluating the presidency that I proposed in my last discussion. The proposed model outlined core dimensions that are considered vital for determining the quality of the presidency. In my previous discussion I posited that President Dr Khama’s roadmap was inward-looking, bigoted and personalized implying that his broader policy interventions especially in relation to the economy were self-serving and short-termism. Thus, President Dr Khama must necessarily map out a vision for his final years in office, a kind of a Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of the Botswana economy. Specifically, he needs to use the expertise of others to champion prosperity that would capture the imagination of all across the political divide especially at this moment when our economy is wobbling.
The Economic Stimulus Program would be an ideal intervention only if the thrust of its implementation is taken away from politicians and handed over to appropriate experts grounded on economic fundamentals in order to maximize returns. In its present format this noble initiative appears like a hurried, poorly organized stag party where all guests are entitled to all the privileges of the groom. In its present shape, the ESP is far from laying out an overarching economic vision of what has to be done going forward to propel the economy and consolidate gains. Certainly, President Dr Khama inherited a prosperous economy and it follows that he at least leave it as it has been if not better. Yet, should he persist with his self-serving short-term initiatives well into the final year of his presidency he risks bequeathing to us a ruination; a rotten economy that is on the verge of bankruptcy. President Dr Khama has assured the BDP that he would never leave the party in a sorry state. Along the same lines, he must commit himself to leave the economy in much better shape than it is today.
On the dimension of Presidential appointments, President Dr Khama has an opportunity to salvage the little that remains by dispensing with the destructive culture of partisan appointments and a preference for short-witted stunt performers. Obviously, every president find themselves in the silly mess of making partisan appointments that compromises merit but great minds eventually sign off in style, with lasting memories that transcends partisan interests. President Dr Khama should necessarily rid his administration of praise singers and make signature appointments that would humble his staunch critics. On the aspect of policy direction, President Khama would do well to adopt a conciliatory and reasoned approach to foreign affairs. Excitement and the urge to despatch familiar disparaging military-inspired rhetoric have thrown the country into shame and fear. There is need to adopt a cautious approach in the full knowledge that exuberance and fierce engagement with peers has no virtue. It has been said that Botswana has no established framework that guides our foreign relations. Our foreign policy is derived intuitively and there is neither any consistency nor commitment to a set of basic principles underpinning international relations. President Dr Khama could make a mark for himself by laying a solid foundation for establishing a brilliant foreign policy for the Botswana state. President Dr Khama has been criticized for deliberately misleading the nation on issues of water, energy, the passenger train and so forth.
This has soiled his integrity and rendered him a dishonest and untrustworthy father of the nation. Unless he takes decisive action to redeem himself, he risks being remembered as a callous crook, a notoriously corrupt and sneaky character who successfully deceived people into believing that he was capable and compassionate. In his final years, President Dr Khama ought to commit himself to championing a scandal-free administration that learnt a lesson from its poor handling of topical issues. Dr Khama’s presidency has seen crisis after crisis, controversies and historic levels of intolerance that have polarized the society right through the middle. President Dr Khama must therefore devote his final years to healing partisan rivalries and articulating a framework that promotes national coherence and transcends petty political differences. He must use his public appeal; his charisma and his executive powers to push for a national dialogue that would lead to national reconciliation and the revival of national patriotism if he is to bequeath to us a united nation that is the envy of the world. President Dr Khama must use his executive powers to push for progressive legislation that could move the country forward. A national dialogue on the review of the national constitution to make it relevant to our present times will go a long way in ensuring that he closes his presidency on a sound note.
President Dr Khama should be well aware that given his stature, it is very unlikely that his successor would want to discontinue his legacy. Thus, what he is likely to leave for us at the end is likely to be maintained for many years to come. In this regard, President Dr Khama has a golden chance to create a positive conclusion to his otherwise lousy presidency by putting to good use the wisdom acquired from lessons learnt from silly blunders to lay out an agenda of what ought to be done to grow the economy and consolidate our democracy for many, many years to come. Renowned author Stephen Richards noted that ‘the true measure of success is how many times you can bounce back from failure’.
