Have you ever wondered why people keep on voting for the BDP despite widespread acknowledgement of its failures? Well here is why some people do.
BDP is our family party, I found my parents supporting BDP (Mothusi, a guy who asked me to buy him Chibuku). My response was to ask this young man what BDP policies have benefited him. His answer was to tell me of his shattered dreams. This young man did well in his form 5, but he had lost a number of books. His mother could not raise the money to pay for the books so he could get his certificates, so he has been loitering in the village doing piece work and drinking Chibuku.
Growing up, he dreamt of having his own family and raising his kids, but right now he does not see that happening. He does not make enough to even have a girlfriend. He has heard of government policies but without land or money or a meaningful job he cannot access those policies. Personally he thinks the policies are for the rich and connected. I asked him whether he would consider voting for a different party in 2014. He said no, he is a diehard BDP man, he does not care what policies the Umbrella or the BCP have. I did not waste further time with this young man, and I did not buy him Chibuku.
BDP is the best party in Botswana (Nkwebi, a civil servant on c3 scale who shares a 3 bed-roomed house in Gaborone phase 2 with 2 other friends). We started to talk about how tough life was. We agree that sharing a house is not good, he broke up with his son’s mother because she accused him of cheating on her. Apparently his roommates always brought different girls whenever mmaabo was there, so she said it means he does the same too in her absence. He tried to advise her otherwise but other issues like the roommates not cleaning the bath, or leaving the plates undone or wearing the guy’s shoes which the lady bought for him drove them further apart.
I asked him why he continued sharing. He has no alternative!(remember the BDP campaign slogan in 2009?) His salary cannot afford him to rent a house on his own, unless he goes to 27 or Mogoditshane and rent a room in a yard full of other people. As a graduate that would just be gross he says. So I asked him what his budget was. From the little over P5000 he gets, he pays P1000 for rent including utilities, P250 for food, P2500 for a loan he got to build his mother a decent house in Mookane. He pays P500 maintenance for his kid P500 for taxi and lunch at work. He is left with P500 for his insurances and an occasional help to his single mother. Fortunately the guy does not drink.
I asked him where he sees himself in 5 years. His response was he probably will still be here struggling to make ends meet. I asked him whether he was content with such kind of life. Obviously he is not. I asked him whether believing that there is no alternative to BDP does not show that he approves of their policies which have condemned him to a hand to mouth existence even when he is gainfully employed. Well, he saw my point. Coming from a BDP stronghold he had always known BDP to be the only party to vote for, he never really connected his suffering to the ruling party. But now after our conversation he does. I smile.
You guys from the opposition berate BDP programs but then go behind our backs and use them. Look at Dumelang Saleshando, he is rich from CEDA and government tenders. (Taboka an unemployed graduate who completed the mandatory 2 year internship period but could not find further employment for a year now).
I pointed to her that BDP programs are for the elites, and Saleshando is such, so are other people from my party and the umbrella as a whole. The BDP tag line should be “Prosperity for the Elites, and poverty for the rest.” I asked her why she does not ask for a CEDA loan and start he own business. That got her talking. You see, according to my friend, she does not have a business in mind that she can do apart from Tourism related business, having studied tourism at school. She and a friend wanted to start a tour operator company in Chobe but the government policies just made it impossible. They had done their research and it was a viable project. Their first port of call was CEDA. CEDA wanted them to get a tourism license first, to acquire the Tourism Enterprise Licence Category C, the applicant must have a fully functional office, camping equipment and vehicles with the necessary permits (That’s what they needed the money for in the 1st place! But CEDA insists that they can’t give them the money in case they don’t get the license after getting the money).┬á
There were stuck, so it was impossible for them to submit the application for CEDA or the Tourism Enterprise License Category C. Also the Department of Road Transport and Safety requires an applicant who wants a tour operator permit to produce a tourism number for which he is still applying while the Department of Tourism requires the applicant to have a vehicle with the necessary permits. This alone locks young Batswana out of this lucrative business. Recently the government announced a 200% hike in park fee and tourism levy that has a potential to drive tourists away from our country, especially self-drive tourists from South Africa and locals. So she does not see a future in tourism and she feels she wasted her time studying for a degree in tourism!
Now I ask her, don’t you think those policies can be changed to be in line with your wishes and aspirations? Yes they can, she answers, but not when we have Kitso Mokaila as the minister! He does not care about locals, he looks like a man hell bent on making sure Batswana don’t take part in the tourism industry. Well, don’t you see the need to vote for an alternative government in 2014? Well, now that you point it out, I do! And I think all unemployed graduates should, we have nothing to lose! The status quo would not benefit us, so not voting or voting for BDP would not change our lives. And I get embarrassed each time I ask my father for money for my monthly supplies! I should be working damnit, or running my own business, making something out of my life, I’m 28 this year and not getting any younger (she sobs. Ok I’m kidding, but you get my point!)
I don’t vote, my kingdom is in heaven.(Ditso,┬á a Jehovah’s witness who is my younger brother’s friend). When you take a dump in the toilet where does the stuff go? That took him by surprise. Down the toilet to the drains, down the sewer system to the sewage treatment plant. Who provides that sewer system? Of course, the government. What would you say of the government stopped maintaining the sewer system and you dump comes out of the drain into your yard? That would be irresponsible. Do you pay tax? Yes I do. Do you care what your taxes do? Well, yes. So why wouldn’t you want to elect a government that would make sure your dump never comes back at you and your taxes are used for its intended purposes, not buying a few individuals some luxuries while you suffer? Well you have a point, I don’t really like the way Khama is governing this country, especially the way our education and health systems are going down the drain. And like I said, you’ve got a point, my vote is important. Come 2014 I will vote!
I don’t like politics (Mike a GCC clerk who earns around P3000 per month). His personal story is as woeful as his statement. At 45 he has not much time left to change his life. He had to take his unemployed wife and the kids back to the village because rent and transport was unaffordable. So he stays alone in a 1 room in Maruapula. I asked why he hated politics. This is what he had to say.
These politicians are all the same, they just want our vote then they disappear. The government does not care about its people. His 1st born failed form 3 because the teachers were on strike now she is just home doing nothing, with no bright future ahead of her. The only job she can do now is ipelegeng which to him is crap. To him that shows that the BDP government has run out of ideas, so why should he vote. But you can vote for an alternative government that would give your kids a chance in life I say. But Batswana keep on voting for the BDP, so voting for opposition would be a waste of time because the BDP would win anyway he says. You know how many people think like you? Almost half of the population, and if every one of you guys who are fed up with the system could go and vote we would see a new dawn. Well you have a point, when is the registration? I smile.
This is what my mother had to say. If it wasn’t for BDP giving you free education you wouldn’t be where you are, as a single parent I would not have afforded to pay for your school fees, U ngabe u lisa nombe dze bathu sangwenu(You could be looking after people’s cattle). Well she has a point, however how many mothers have children who made it through the education system and are actually doing something commendable in their lives I ask? Well, count your blessings young man. Mother, I do, but I believe that we all should be successful, not just 10% of the population.
Every year more than 100 000 students sit down for their JC exams, 60 % goes to senior school. Where do the rest go? Brigades don’t accept form 3s anymore! Even menial jobs look for at least a form 5. From the 60% that go to senior schools, only 30% make it to tertiary. From tertiary only 50% get jobs. And mother, you want me to celebrate my success while the rest of my fellow Batswana are struggling? That would be selfish I think. I know most of these people don’t see anything wrong with BDP policies that condemn them to a life of poverty and want but it is my duty to point that out to them. From my standard one class of more than 90 students, only 4 of us went to UB, 4 mother, 5 %! Granted some went to colleges of education and brigades, but the majority are struggling out there, ravaged by poverty and disease.
Because the BDP policies have failed them. I understand why you would vote for BDP mother, because the policies benefited you. What baffles me is why other mothers, whose children spend the whole day drinking Chibuku or work ipelegeng continue to vote for BDP. Something is not right! To my mother, and all those other mothers like her,┬á ‘The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of good people -‘ Napoleon.
From conversing with these 6 acquaintances, I discovered that BDP does not win because their policies are good. BDP wins because people don’t take their votes seriously. They do not know that by voting for a party you tacitly approve of their way of doing things. You cannot vote for BDP then turn around and complain when they increase your taxes, and refuse to increase your salaries. Or complain when their policies cannot provide meaningful employment and graduates loiter in the streets, when the employed live from hand to mouth because of high rentals and expensive food and transport. You cannot complain when locals are locked out of businesses that seem to be reserved for foreigners. You cannot complain when government tenders are corruptly allocated to the same people, when government projects are never completed on time with millions of pula in cost overruns. You cannot complain about lack of land, poor housing, unreliable electricity and water supplies. You cannot complain because by not voting or choosing to vote for the BDP, you approve and you believe that THERE IS STILL NO ALTERNATIVE!
In conclusion one can ask the opposition, especially the Umbrella to intensify house to house campaigns, and talk to people directly. You can see the effects of telling people facts. And there are thousands of people out there who are ill informed. Most people are ill informed on Umbrella policies because the Umbrella has no access to Mass Media unlike the faltering BDP. To you dear reader I would ask you one question, what do you have to lose if there is a change of government? Are you afraid of losing your unemployment? Are you afraid new opportunities might overwhelm you? Or are you afraid, as the BDP mascots put it, that there will be war if we win? If you are, I ask you, who will be fighting because we would be celebrating? I think there is something the BDP is not telling us!
