I have been away for a few weeks, obviously in the bundus. The apparent disadvantage of life in the bush is that one misses a lot, especially on current affairs at both national and international levels. But the benefits outweighs the costs in that the bundus afford one excess freedom to be on his own and thereby affording one space to deeply think and introspect on pertinent issues in his life. Also the peace that accompanies life away from modernisation cannot be overemphasised. Back to my trip. The initial plan was to disappear for two days, but I ended up away from town for a couple of weeks. Coming back to modernisation, however, I was met with news of a change of guard at the national level. We now have a new President administering the country. An excited friend of mine would remark tellingly that ‘we are finally liberated’. Indeed, it has been a horrible 10 year period for our country. A bad dream, if I may use that word, has finally come to an end. In this instalment I reflect on areas where we went wrong in the past 10 years and look ahead on what the new administration needs to do to bring the country back on track and restore sanity at all levels of our society.
That as a country we have been caught in the middle-income trap cannot be disputed and, it is clear the trajectory of our development track record takes a pear shape since the late 2000s, particularly following the ascendance of Khama to presidency. We went in into space, literally and figuratively without life jackets. Probably into a black hole or the Bermuda Triangle. We stagnated as an economy and lost hope of recovery. Yes, this period coincided with the global financial crisis of 2008, but in our case it was more a case of inept leadership at the helm of the country. When ascending to higher office, the immediate past President never had a vision in the same way like, for example, the case of Paul Kigame in Rwanda. I use the case of Rwanda because Kigame and our former president both came from the barracks. They both emphasised discipline ÔÇô nothing surprising coming from former solders. In our case, that was to be demonstrated through ‘proper dressing’ by public servants. Imagine, almost 50 years of self-rule and the first thing one worries about relates to code of dressing and not declining productivity. In Rwanda, Kagami had a grand vision for his country. Everyone came to know about it. He took the lead and ensured that all efforts were geared towards realisation of that vision. The results are there for all to see. In our case, we just went into space and kept hope that we will arrive somewhere ÔÇô the destination was never defined. The pilot frankly lacked the requisite skills to navigate his machine. And, sadly, the mode of transport was nowhere near the demands of the trip. It was a failed experiment from the start.
It was not only the case of failed leadership from the onset. He also had his plans that sought to redesign our governance system. Militarisation of the public service ÔÇô the key vehicle through which government delivered services to people, became the norm. There was no formal management reform to talk about. Instead, efforts to politicise the presidency became the hallmark of the immediate past administration ÔÇô and tighter political control of the bureaucracy accelerated. Loyalty replaced merit. Processes were undermined in selection, appointments and promotions. Effectively, political goals took centre stage thereby undermining professionalism in our civil service. This sad development was not only confined to the civil service, but the entire public sector. Appointments for Board of Directors in state-owned-entities disregarded merit and prioritised party affiliation. The overriding consideration become loyalty. Still in parastatals, processes and governance related mechanism were circumvented. In the processes a fertile ground for corruption and mismanagement manifested. Who can forget the rule by directives in the public service, including the infamous one where public officers were allowed to engage in private business?
Corruption and mismanagement, therefore, has been the greatest legacy of the past immediate administration. Although Transparency International still consider us the least corrupt country in Africa evidence on the ground suggest otherwise. Things are out of control. The wheels of good governance have literally gone off. We are spiralling out of control and joining other condemned nations across the continent. The NPF saga is just a tip of an iceberg. We are rotten to the core. Because of institutionalised corruption, especially grand one service delivery has collapsed. No mega project was finished on time and within budget. The standard excuse when people demanded accountability on the part of the rulers was ‘Re Jelwe’. Inequality also sky rocketed. We are now considered the third unequal society under the sun ÔÇô how sad for a nation of just over 2 million inhabitants. As for South Africa and Namibia ÔÇô the two leading unequal places on earth, it is understandable considering their history of racial segregation, but how did we join such a group when we have always prided ourselves as a racially neutral people, where opportunities were available to all irrespective of colour and race? Perhaps we were sold a dummy. But the consequences have been devastating. The future is bleak for national unity because we have allowed institutionalisation of the haves and have not’s, of black and whites, and males against females. In fact we have even succeeded in setting families against each other. In terms of values we remain empty.
Now that we have a new President, the debate has been whether he represents continuity or departure from his predecessor. Only President Masisi can answer this question. What he needs to consider is the legacy he wants to leave behind when he exit the stage. He is the main actor now. Everything is on him, but few pointers might be useful here. He either takes this country forward or accelerate its demise. He can provide leadership and improve on material conditions of his people. It starts with having a clear vision shared by all of us. He has to lead by owning that vision ÔÇô and by extension championing it. He needs to seek accountability on all of us. He needs to transform this economy to its full potential and beat the middle-income trap. We have the resources, he can do it. He needs to restore good governance across the economy, by, for example, emphasising on competence instead of loyalty. His plate is full, of course, but he needs to have trust on his people to support him across the political divide. After all we are all Batswana. We have no other country to call home.
*Dr Molefhe teaches Public Administration at the University of Botswana
