A friend of mine recently came from a business trip in Kigali, Rwanda. He has been out of the country for little over four months. He confessed that it was a first time for him to be out of this place into another Africa country for such a ‘long’ time. I mean four months, and this guy wants to tell me that his stay in Kigali felt like eternity? Despite his perceived extended stay, he comes back somehow surprised that actually we do have places that offer hope out there in the continent. Indeed, a rarity for the so called ‘dark’ continent.
Like many other trips from the past, he came back with varied memories from this one. Unlike some of us who have had a bad time in our expeditions across the continent, Rwanda came out a much different place for him than what he expected. Yes, he had to get a visa to get there, and the way and the manner he processed it was least expected on his part. He didn’t imagine getting the visa in such a short time after he lodged the application. Not only did he get the visa so quick, He just had to apply online. They call it e-government, in which citizens and those from outside the country could access services efficiently and cheaper through the internet.
Once in Rwanda, his perception about Africa was changed dramatically. This is a place where in the mid-1990s the world watched in horror on TV as almost a million people perish from senseless killings in just a matter of weeks. To put into perspective, no other post-WWII conflict has claimed more lives and brought such a misery to one nation. It was bad and very few people would have imagined any better future for Rwanda and its citizens. Its prospects as a united and functional country were bleak. But now the place is buzzing with optimism. The citizens and their leadership have managed to craft, in such a short space of time, one of the best post-conflict societies in Africa and beyond. Rwanda is fast becoming a model for others to emulate. I just wanted to know what really transpired in his visit to Kigali that left such a lasting positive impression on him. In short he told me that what he saw in that society brought a renewed sense of confidence on him about the fortunes of our continent. Of course, they visited the war memorial museum, which served as a reminder to everyone about the evils of war. But more than anything else, there seemed to be a sense of functionality about this place. In stark contrast to what is presented daily on TV about Africa in general, the place is very clean with few acts of theft or robberies, to mention just a few. Overall, there seems to be a renewed sense of cheerfulness about the people of this country. He felt in love with the place without a second thought!
But my friend wanted to know what might explain this development and its implications for Africa in general and Botswana in particular. I honestly didn’t have answers to address his concerns. Maybe Rwanda was an exception to the rule, was all I could offer him. Just a case of luck, perhaps!
It was at this point that I remembered that Botswana used to be an exception to many anomalies that have come to characterise governance across many African countries and developing ones in general. We were a model for others to emulate as far as democracy and good governance were concerned. Get me right, I am saying we used to be an exemplary case, where corruption was minimal and bureaucrats applied themselves professionally ÔÇô that is, without fear or favour in delivering services to the nation.
But times have changed. Simply put, we are no longer a model nation for others to follow in our continent. And we should get worried not because other countries such as Rwanda are fast catching up or surpassing us in governance issues. We should be worried that, if events of the past few weeks related to corruption are anything to go by, we are fast becoming ‘a has been’ in terms of the way we conduct our public affairs.
Although I failed to offer my friend any answer as to what might explain the good fortunes of Rwanda, deep down I knew what is at the centre of our decline as a country. We are losing it precisely because of a deficiency in our political leadership. I cannot imagine anytime this country needed an ethical leadership like now. We need a leadership which is guided by principles and values in discharging their duties. These are people with a moral compass and, thus, able tell right from wrong. But I am afraid, collectively as a people; we are failing to place in position of authority people of high moral standards to guide our republic in the right direction.
I need no go far to illustrate how as a people we are failing to demand accountability from those in charge of our republic. Last month I penned an article asking Batswana to demand accountability from their political leaders following the much publicised Pitsane fiasco. The response I received was a shocker from a BCPYL member entitled ‘BCP has bigger fish to fry’ in the Gazette newspaper of 7th October, 2012. The writer argues that: “What the BCPYL stands for is very simple: sound and productive political commentary on bread and butter issues….We could not be seen to be after cosmetic issues that do not add value and will not elevate socio-economic lives of the suffering Batswana. Botswana is confronted with acute problems of youth unemployment, a demotivated public workers, a collapsing judicial system, ineffective National Assemble, inequality of classes, eroded beef industry, rapidly degrading democracy, shameful and poor creative and entertainment industry and health issues. These are the issues we are very much interested in as the BCPYL and not personal matters.”
Unless we realise collectively as a people that moral issues are central to leadership and social progress, we will not go anywhere as a nation. We can only go forward if we recognise the need to have morally sound leaders who will very well know that engaging, for example in corruption, somehow negatively affect all of us. May I take this opportunity to recognise the stellar job Senior Counsel, Unity Dow, did with her article on corruption in one of our private papers last week.
