“You Can’t fix Stupid” is the album title of American comedian, Ron White. He may be right. It is worrisome to be reminded that stupidity can’t be fixed. There is just so much stupidity playing out in our local politics one gets to wonder why politicians are even paid for being in parliament and council. Should we really be wasting money on clowns? Of course it is not all of them who behave like kindergarten kids in parliament and councils. There are those political representatives who take their mandate seriously. I salute them.
While the sad truth is that it is difficult to fix stupidity, I take solace in the fact that it is very easy to vote it out. Yes, we are at liberty to vote out all politicians who display some element of stupidity in their line of national service. If I come across as being harsh or out of order for categorising some of the deliberations made by our political leaders as stupid, I humbly beg for your pardon. It is only because I couldn’t find any suitable word that best describes the behaviour and conduct of some of our political leaders. I was shocked and very disappointed to learn that parliament business was disrupted and delayed last week Thursday on the basis of legislators arguing on whether a member from the opposing camp can be asked to stand in for a colleague in the ruling party to just read a question in his absence. Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Member of Parliament for Gaborone West South, Botsalo Ntuane, had asked a colleague from the opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Kentse Rammidi, to stand in for him during the parliamentary question time and this caused uproar from the ruling party Mp’s.
Ntuane had asked Rammidi to ask a prepared question on his behalf, as he was not present to present the question himself. The question was from Ntuane. The question was prepared by Ntuane. Rammidi’s role was only limited to reading out what Ntuane had already prepared. This however sparked fierce opposition from the BDP bench. Are we really expected to take our legislators seriously when they so flagrantly fail to take themselves serious? The Deputy Speaker of Parliament found nothing wrong with Rammidi asking the question on behalf of Ntuane and even told the house that there was nothing in the parliament Standing Orders that suggested such an arrangement violated the rules and regulations of parliament. Instead of advancing legal reasons as to why Rammidi was not fit to represent Ntuane, our Mp’s came up with reasons that border on absurdity, stupidity even.
Someone was against the arrangement on the basis it was ‘against the known traditional norms of parliament’. To him, just because such an arrangement may have never happened since 1966, it can never be allowed to happen in 2014. It is worrisome how our current crop of Mp’s refuse to think outside the box. It is very worrisome how our Mp’s never put international interest ahead of partisan allegiance and expediency. It is very disappointing that even the longest serving Mp, Daniel Kwelagobe, supported this arrangement, which to me was a clear sign of maturity, harmony and mutual understanding that should be embraced between members of parliament from across the political divide. It is sad that elderly Mp’s like Mma Moitoi-Venson, whom we expect to encourage this working relationship between the ruling and opposition Mp’s, was one of the Mp’s who reportedly interrupted the minister’s response half-way and accused the Speaker of committing “a very grievous mistake” to allow non-identical political twins to work together.
According to BDP legislators, it is an unforgivable sin to have ruling party Mp’s work together even on matters that are of national interest. The question that Ntuane asked Rammidi to read on his behalf had no political connotations. It was a question that was meant for the benefit of Ntuane’s constituents, regardless of their political affiliation. The question that was prepared by Ntuane sought answers that were needed not only by BDP supporters but the entire constituency including supporters from Rammidi’s BDP. Ntuane was well within his rights to choose a colleague of his own choice without considering their political affiliation.
Ntuane picked Rammidi for reasons that he really owes no one an explanation to. The fact that he chose a colleague in parliament is admissible enough. I really have a problem with leaders who place populism ahead of national interest. In their myopic thinking, by delegating Rammidi, Ntuane was giving him some political mileage. We know of so many brilliant motions that never saw the light of the day in parliament just because they were tabled by members from the opposition bench. In fact, former Vice President Merafhe once unashamedly bragged in parliament that as the BDP they will not support motions brought by opposition Mp’s as that would steal the limelight from them. As the general elections approach, I hope Batswana are carefully following the performances of their political leaders and are readying themselves to vote out those who display some stupidity while in parliament and councils. I pray that Batswana can bring in people who know and understand that being in opposing camps doesn’t render the other party an enemy. Political rivalry should never be allowed to cloud national unity, which should be learnt through unity amongst our Mp’s as demonstrated by Ntuane and Rammidi. Let’s vote out all the stupid politicians.
