It has become fashionable that when someone makes some embarrassing gaffes they claim that they have been misquoted by reporters. For far too long, reporters have been characterized as petty criminals who derive pleasure from causing harm. While it is admitted that misquoting or misrepresentation of facts or errors by omission will happen from time to time due to a variety of factors ranging from bad journalism, a burning desire to produce juicy stories, failure to deliver a clear message, challenges relating to translation, a proclivity to play to the gallery and so forth, a majority of such claims of being misquoted are without substance.
Many such claims are a last line of defence by some irresponsible leaders and dignitaries meant to apportion blame and present journalists are reckless and unpatriotic delinquents who are always looking to create spin and propagate everything that is destructive.
It has to be noted that journalists are accountable to rigorous codes of reporting and therefore cannot freely and willingly become loose cannons and architects of malice and lies.
While journalists rightly take a share of the blame for this nonsense of leaders continually claiming to have been misquoted after making embarrassing statements, the main culprits are the bigoted leaders who relish in basking in the limelight of their loathsome innuendos- people who believe their standing in society entitles them to spew rubbish.
While we have been warned that the pain caused by the crimes of the tongue such as reckless talk and intentional deceit is destructive, many of our political or traditional leaders and celebrities of all sizes and shapes are most of the time careless in their speeches largely because they believe that they are privileged to spew vile and utter garbage. The recent xenophobia violence that engulfed some parts of South Africa was largely blamed on inflammatory comments uttered by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.
As is often the case, the king accused the media of misquoting him even when the media reproduced a verbatim transcript of his words that ‘foreigners must pack their bags and go home’. It is possible that the media could have picked up the King’s comments while he was speaking off the record but this is not the same thing as being misquoted. In effect, the King statement was irresponsible, dangerous provocative and in bad taste hence he resorted to the usual mantra when his folly caught up with him.
In Botswana in the build up to the 2014 general elections, reckless and inflammatory statements became the politicians’ daily menu with President Khama casually pronouncing that they (the BDP) were going to kill their opponents at the polls. President Khamaalso repeatedly warned citizens that a civil war was in the offing and continued his misguided propaganda that BDP members would be exiled or imprisoned if the opposition wins elections.
These statements uttered by an authority figure, a revered first citizen, had the potential to induce hatred and could stoke up chaos. However, owing to his privileged position he was never taken to task for his ill-advised comments that bordered on gutter politics and lack of good sense. In the same year, His Honour Vice-President Masisi encouraged BDP members to create fake face book accounts to enable them to engage in dirty politics. This was the equivalence of inciting lawlessness and was extremely dangerous especially in a climate where people were sitting on the edge.
In few years ago, former Assistant Minister Honorable Molebatsi delivered a hate speech in Tobane where he was reported to have said ‘le taditsemakwerekweremo’ ÔÇô (you have accommodated foreigners here). Makwerekwere is a derogatory term for foreigners of African breed and is highly emotive, offensive and inappropriate especially used by a government minister, largely because it often leads to negative prejudices and widespread hatred. In the same year, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations Mr PhanduSkelemani questioned former BMD Treasurer Mr GumaMoyo’s nationality even challenging him to board the bus back to Zimbabwe.
This was over the top recklessness and irresponsibility by these self-styled leaders. While these important people did not deny ever uttering such statements, they were never taken to task for their dirty and divisive politics in ways that suggested that superiors are permitted to lie and make seditious comments. What happened in South Africa following alleged careless comments by the Zulu King must be a lesson to Botswana especially to the leadership.
It is wrong and unlike of responsible leaders to speak as though they are high on hard drugs and then blame journalists for misrepresenting their comments. While they are free to express their views that do not accord with our own, they are nevertheless required to be circumspect in their utterances. It is absurd for people in executive positions or any other person upstairs to blame reporters after realizing the sheer inanity of their own statements.
While they have every right to complain whenever they are misquoted, they have a duty to think long and hard before speaking especially when addressing the public or speaking to reporters. They should know that letting their mouths on autopilot reflects on abject failure of their leadership and present them as leaders by default or imbeciles who have gate-crashed their way to the top. In fact, they should know that they are unlikely to be misquoted if they give factual information using precise and grammatically correct language.
Going forward, reporters must not feel intimidated by leaders who threaten to refuse to speak to the media for fear of misrepresentation as long as they are truthful in their reporting. Most importantly, journalists should endeavour to use pocket recorders so that whenever these pampered attention seekers want to blame them for negligent reporting and shoddy journalism, their statements would be replayed unedited to settle the matter.
Such a strategy will ensure that our crazed leaders take themselves seriously and think long before spewing crap. For far too long our leaders have been under no obligation to be truthful and have never taken their people seriously. To avoid the spectre of violence induced by reckless comments often made by some narcissistic fellows, we need to stand up to these playful and thoughtless leaders and make them account for their puerile utterances.
