A near consensus among reasonable Batswana is that anyone taking the reigns from Dr Khama was always going to be compelled to discontinue some policies and programs as well as reverse some key decisions taken by the previous administration. President Masisi has not disappointed in this regard. In fact, he has been on a thrilling crusade that some feared amounted to prearranged efforts to dismantle Dr Khama’s legacy.
In truth, since taking over the reigns President Masisi’s noteworthy interventions are those that reversed most of the key decisions taken by Dr Khama’s administration. Yet, the reversal of these decisions cannot be dismissed as trivial procedure for it was a daring move that was necessary to restore public confidence in government and its institutions and perhaps signal the end of a dictatorship.
Correspondingly, Batswana have genuinely extended a warm welcome to President Masisi. They have given him the benefit of doubt and have committed themselves to supporting him as he returns Botswana to normalcy. The raving reviews accorded to him since he assumed the leadership mantle demonstrate that a good number of our people are happy with his management style thus far.
For almost three months a grateful public has adored his every deed. But presidential leadership cannot exist and live on an operation that could be codenamed ‘operation reverse all’ ÔÇô a determined operation to reverse key decisions taken by former President Dr Khama. Presidential duties go far beyond reversing impulsive decisions taken by sulky and bad-tempered wannabes who suddenly found they had unrestricted power.
Thus, President Masisi will at some point need to start making decisions that have nothing to do with former President Dr Khama’s decisions. In other words, the presidential honeymoon will soon as people begin to acknowledge that the excitement about the end of a dictatorship is not symptomatic of national prosperity. Already there are some who hold the view that President Masisi has done nothing to warrant a favourable review in the short time he has been in charge.
The views expressed by this section of the citizenry show that most Batswana no longer take things for granted; that Batswana have learnt it the hard way; that an authoritarian rule has schooled them in slick and shrewd warfare. As a result, most have adequately learned to be vulgar and disrespectful. Their showdown with former President Dr Khama has awakened them and henceforth they take no prisoners, which is why they already dismiss President Masisi and accuse him for being ‘non-committal and groping in the dark’ as much as his predecessor. But this hurried condemnation of President Masisi should not dishearten him. Rather it should cause him to listen more, reflect and commit himself to acting in the best interest of the country and prove that he is presidential material.
Thus far, President Masisi has projected an image of sophistication and confidence consistently showing intent to operate a philosophy that heavily borrows from a people-centred approach to governance. This approach seems to have succeeded in lulling many to believe that we are blessed with a divine being.
However, experience teaches us that before being sworn in, the individual is a humble and accountable politician but after inauguration and having declared ‘so help me God’, the erstwhile humble colleague transforms into a superhuman whose actions are to be taken for a magic wand and his decisions immune from reprobation. This metamorphosis is reinforced by the undue reverence which most Batswana extend to both the Office of the President and the incumbent.
Even as reality would dictate otherwise as was the case with the previous repressive administration, a good number of citizens fall hook, line and sinker for rhetorical platitudes from the presidency. In fact, many people all over the word easily believe what their president tells them not so much because it makes perfect sense but simply because it comes from a person holding the position of a president.
Many people are inclined to believe what their president chooses to tell them. Fundamentally, many would doubt the information from government officials but yet readily believe the same information if it came from the president. This makes the president to believe that they are infallible and efficacious which is why most do not embrace criticism. We elevate leaders to the status of brained-know-it-all lords of the sun.
Perhaps this explains why our usually hard-hitting pressmen slackened and fluttered when they were given an opportunity to grill President Masisi during his recent press briefing. Many people accused the media of asking President Masisi elementary questions. Perhaps like many, the normally sceptical media folks were awestruck by the humility and mystique of President Masisi. His omnipresence stunned them hence adored his every word. This adulation and undue respect for the Office of the President and by extension the incumbent, has made even the humblest individual occupying the office to believe that his judgment is flawless all the time.
Essentially, instead of making the president to become more accountable to us and instead of making him to be our servant, our actions borne out of desperation and a dose of impaired intellectual functioning, are actually creating leaders who view themselves as larger than life and bigger than the law. This public attitude that present the president as someone endowed with magical wisdom has caused many sincere individuals holding the office to become despots and ultimately treat citizens like they were their own children.
The events of the last decade should have taught us that the Office of the President does not necessarily transform brainless little evil men into giants with the wherewithal to grow the economy and create jobs. Thus, it cannot be right to beg the president to determine our destiny. The English would say ‘ask a silly question and you will get a silly answer’. Pleading with President Masisi to share his roadmap is akin to asking a crook to give assurance that he is not a crook.
What is required is for Batswana to demand from President Masisi the kind of Botswana they want. We cannot ask President Masisi to prepare a meal for us only to turn around and heap scorn on him for a stale menu. Our attitude must change so that we remain respectful of the Office of the President while imposing demands upon those who occupy the office and hold them responsible for all unimaginable misdemeanours under the sun and all violent crimes committed by thugs from all walks of life.
If Batswana wish for an accountable president, they need to change our attitude from seeing the president as a magician who knows what people desires and instead commit ourselves to keeping on a leash so that he does not run amok and originate funny initiatives that are intended to keep the unemployed contended with their life of anguish. The underlying objective should be to preserve the dignity of the Office of the President and entrust it the capacity cultivate the confidence necessary to attain the aspirations of Vision 2036 while holding them responsible for our misery.
After all is said and done, the kind of the president we get depends on the kind of Botswana we want. It is not for the president to craft a roadmap, it is for Batswana to do so and demand President Masisi to constitute a government that can create opportunities for the realization of a national dream.
