Corruption, punctuated by impunity has been the cornerstone of Botswana’s administration over the last eight years or so. What goodwill the country retains, especially as reflected in the international ratings is nothing much more than a windfall ÔÇô an overhang is a more appropriate term ÔÇô from capital accumulated from the years that preceded the arrival of the current administration. By harping on these ratings to prove its adherence to governance, the current administration is disingenuously riding a wave that it did not create. There are many economic and political costs that this country will have to pay long after the current administration is gone.
Big as those price tags will be, they will immediately fade into oblivion when put aside the tab that the country will have to pick to re-make the credibility and integrity of the judiciary. An independent judiciary that inspires public faith is a touchstone of any working democracy. What has been happened to our judiciary over the last few months does not inspire public confidence. In every manner ÔÇô at least in the eyes of the public, our judiciary has now run out of all breathing space. It has become an appendage of the executive arm of Government. And that is most worrisome. What is however most worrying is that there does not seem to be a coherent plan from those in authority to come up with a strategy to restore the damaged integrity of the judiciary. Some of our judges have literally reduced themselves to the stature of toys ÔÇô at least in the eyes of the public who used the hold the institution and the people manning it with heartfelt reverence.
The judiciary and its political masters might reel with undisguised self-satisfaction at succeeding in getting rid of some of its own perceived to be outsiders. They may even go further, as some of them are saying behind the scenes that those events will in the long term prove cathartic and therapeutic ÔÇô but it has been at a cost of irredeemably poisoning the entire institution that used to be hallowed. How it ultimately pans out is anybody’s guess, but personally I would have a problem appearing before a judge who has said he is influenced by a mob psychology or another one who has said he remains indebted and beholden to the Head of State. In the same token I would have a hard time convincing myself of the sanity of a judge who in spite of the country’s laws coolly professes his unwavering faith in witchcraft. It is difficult to be optimistic about the future of our judiciary. At the current rate, being hopeful is akin to hoping against hope. This is because at best the fate of our judiciary rests on the unknown and at worst on the hands of the very same people who have done everything to destroy it. However one looks at it, the prospective outcome is a scary one.
Indeed one has to wonder if the judiciary even has the potential to reinvent itself under the current setup – with all the key plays of the cast still in touch. Public response thus far to these apocalyptic events has been muted transitory anger. But lasting mistrust looms large. And without public trust no judiciary has any relevance, much less a chance to survive. An independent judiciary, working within a predictable legal framework has been a touchstone to the international high ratings that our government likes to gloat about. That has proved beneficial to the Government specifically, but also to the country in general. All that is now going up in smoke! Our judiciary has all the characteristics of an archetypal failed institution.
The casual manner with which those in authority are handling the matter is however much more serious than many of us are willing to accept it for what it is. It is called denialism. We seem all too happy to gloss over the fact that everything all that was done to take us to this point was done in bad faith. Principally there has been an embedded culture of unashamedly double standards especially when it comes to the manner in which the four suspended judges were dealt with. For example other judges who have received housing allowances not due to them have been left untouched. Even then, that is only half the story. Notwithstanding the fact that anarchy is taking its foothold inside the judiciary ÔÇô as clearly shown by how an event to mark the opening of the Legal Year recently went off the rails, nobody in authority seems keen to come to their senses to call to a halt to the unfolding tragicomedy. Everything is left to run its course with the hope that by chance things will on their own correct themselves. Our judiciary is operating in a field reminiscent of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, so to speak. It is dreadful to watch But the bigger effects will be felt many years down the line.
