It is very early Monday morning as I write this piece and in a few hours’ time, the 3rd meeting of the 2nd session of the 11th Parliament (don’t worry it confuses all of us), will kick off and members of parliament are expected to approve a bill that seeks to increase the number of Specially Elected Members of Parliament (SEMP) from the current 4 to 6. The motion is spearheaded by one of the beneficiaries to that backdoor entrance to parliament, Eric Molale, in his capacity as Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration. I am perplexed at how Batswana seem to have no problem with this bill. Batswana have shown no objection to this unnecessary move by President Ian Khama to boost the BDP numbers in parliament. We are such an unbelievably, for lack of a better word, stupid nation. Stupid in that we never express apprehension to some of the decisions that are made by our leaders despite their ramifications or broader effects, especially on our limping economy. Our roads are punctuated with potholes, our villages have no health facilities and public servants have been crying for wage increase for donkey years without success, all because we are told our government has no money. It there baffles the mind as to why we would accept the increase of SEMP, a move that will see more money being channelled towards their remuneration despite their irrelevance. I couldn’t have said it any better than opposition MP Wynter Mmolotsi who opines that while the initial introduction of SEMPs was to address a skills shortage in the formative years of the republic, it no longer serves its original purpose. Mmolotsi is so damn right to observe that nowadays this dispensation is used in partisan machinations and beyond that, for consolidating loyalism to leadership.
Already, there is absolutely nothing special that this nation is benefitting from the current 4 specially elected MPs and it is very clear there will be nothing special we will get from the proposed additional 2. It is in situations like this that I get to envy South Africans. In South Africa, leaders don’t do as they please. South Africans would never allow their president to make such politically expedient decisions, to their detriment. If South Africans can take to the streets where they feel a city major is being imposed on them; surely they would put on an aggressive disapproval to the introduction of additional useless members of parliament. I do not believe our parliament needs any further augmentation of ‘special’ brains. All we need is for the current MPs to unblock their brains and stop thinking adding more members will bring any added value to parliament. The additional 2 SEMPs will be appointed at the prerogative of the President and as such they will enter the National Assembly fully aware they owe their allegiance to the appointing authority. What they will therefore bring in parliament is the privilege to rubber-stamp their master’s decisions. I really don’t understand why President Khama feels pressed to increase the number of his rubber-stampers when he already has the entire BDP parliamentary clan by the balls. BDP MPs have never gone against Khama’s will in parliament and as such it is a pity he still finds it prudent to increase his puppets in parliament. It will be interesting to see cabinet ministers endorse this bill because it only brings uncertainty to their ministerial positions. With the arrival of 2 more MPs, Khama will be at liberty to drop some of his current ministers and replace them with his new darlings. What is even more sad is the names being touted around as possible candidates for SEMP. These people have already served this nation in their previous jobs and do not deserve to be recycled back into national service.
We know very well that Khama will not appoint people who will bring diversity of thought but will instead bring people who will readily nod in agreement to all of his decisions. The annual salaries of these not so special MPs could be channelled to more deserving national projects. Batswana have for a long time allowed Khama to have his cake and eat it too. We have moulded Khama into a spoilt brat who gets any and every toy he cries for. He stopped us from having unhindered night life and we accepted it. He turned BTV into his propaganda machine and we allowed it. We have given him the confidence to know that his decisions are never challenged and this is why he is now unashamedly calling for more opportunity to appoint his friends and allies to parliament without any fidgety. Let it be known, I do not support the addition of 2 more specially elected members of parliament and I do not see any special value that we are supposed to be getting from the current 4. All I see is political rejects who are lucky to have ties with Khama.
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