For some strange reason, we had believed that when any one stakeholder in our democracy seemed to go astray as to risk upsetting our national march towards achieving the ideals as contained in the national blueprint of Vision 2016, the custodians of the Vision would speak out to bring back the errant partner into the fold.
It is clear that we were mistaken.
We have come to the conclusion that the Vision Council is not using the moral leverage bestowed on it by the nation to guide the country towards achieving our national ideals.
So inept has become the Council that it has even been upstaged by the lesser formations like the Botswana Youth Council which this week spoke out publicly against some aspects of the recently published Media.
The Youth Council should, in fact, get away with even more credit when one gets to remember that for long it had to live with a slight of being looked down as a breeding ground and sometimes an extension of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party.
This brings about doubts on the seriousness, integrity and even commitment of the people who sit on the Vision Council.
Under normal circumstances we would have expected the Council to speak against government’s arbitrary and unstructured response to the evils of alcoholism consuming the nation.
This is because we look up to the council not just as a detached voice of reason, but also as custodians of the Vision itself which preaches against arbitrariness, dictatorship and disregard for the rule of law.
Having taken a long interest in the behaviour and conduct of the council, we have to reach the conclusion that there is need to overhaul the Council.
As presently composed, not much can be expected from the Vision 2016 Council.
In fact, it is expecting too much of them to suggest the Council to challenge or engage government.
That would be akin to biting a hand that feeds them.
At the moment, the Council has members, including the Chairman, who still owe their jobs, career progress and business opportunities to government.
Not only are some council members directly employed by government and its agencies, some are also known to actively harbour political ambitions.
We think Council members should be people who are universally regarded as impartial in our society.
The Council membership should be drawn from people who in their lifetime would have independence from partisan politics and other such related dictates.
Not only should members be people of high standing in our society, we think they should also be people whose lives have since reached sunset in as far as career prospects are concerned.
We have in the past watched in dismay how some people attempted to use their membership of the Council as a spring board into active politics, in worst cases as Specially Elected Members of Parliament.
In no way can these be the people who can be trusted to speak out against government if, say, it is the government that happens to be a transgressor as is the case currently.
While the winging and busy-body attitude displayed by government in the last few weeks has been a concern to human rights activist, the media and others it is a disappointment that the Vision Council who are the custodians and drivers of Vision 2016 have not been any where in the picture raising their voice, not even in the form of advising caution and restraint.
In that spirit, we call on the nation to seriously revisit the quality and caliber of people they want to be custodians of Vision 2016, or else we should call it quits.
