About ten years ago, this column ran a commentary titled ‘Will Botswana survive the presidency of Seretse Khama Ian Khama?’ This was after the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) romped to victory at the 2014 general election, handing Ian Khama his second term as state president.
The gist of the commentary was that the Khama presidency had ruined the economy with no hope for recovery, leaving citizens with hard-earned academic degrees without any choice but to register for food hampers and so a further 5 years of his leadership was spine-chilling as it was deflating..
Whether it was by coincidence or a result of the policies of his administration, Botswana has been losing its competitive advantage and sparkle in continental politics since Ian Khama took over the reigns and extended stay at the helm guaranteed eventual disintegration.
Of course the country has survived the presidency of Dr Khama in so far as we still have our country with its poor and miserable people. But the iconic Botswana that symbolized moral progress, economic prosperity and political tolerance has been thrashed, wrecked and has been on a long road trip to hell since then.
The erosion of our democratic values particularly civil liberties embodied everything that has been disintegrating and offers a framework of everything that has been going wrong and this is not imagined or made up but is real and menacing.
The decline of civilization owing to the brutality of state security agents and the formalization of tyranny alongside the rise and rise of a strongman meant that the future of Botswana has never been this bleak.
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