Can BDP redeem itself?
Opinions
During the elections last year BDP promised to ‘move Botswana forward’ and itemised five key areas which the President put in a red card on which he appended his signature for unequivocal ownership. This is the yardstick that Batswana will use to measure success during the next five years. Let me remind you of what the Presidential Promise Red Card contained;
Making job creation priority number 1
Taking Batswana out of poverty
Increase education funding
Eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV
Fight corruption in all its manifestations
It is clear that Batswana who voted for BDP and are directly or indirectly affected by the above list will measure success; when they see change in their own lives, when they see change in the lives of their loved ones, when they see change in the lives of the people they know; when they see themselves, their loved ones, their neighbours getting employed meaningfully; when they see themselves, their loved ones, their neighbours graduating out of poverty and becoming ‘bo se mang mang’ in society; when they see the schools where their children, where the children of their loved one’s and where the children of their fellow citizens go have enough classrooms, have decent desks and chairs in the classrooms, have no broken widows, falling ceilings and dangling cladding, when all their schools have happy and motivated teachers and above all their children performing just as well as those in private schools; when no more children are born with HIV and when most of us understand and gallantly fight to eliminate new HIV infection; when journalists are free to report anything that looks like corruption (proven or not proven); when most if not all of us truly abhor corruption and all its manifestations and when we can talk without fear or favour about real or perceived corrupt practices anyway in our public or private institutions; when the tendering and recruitment processes in public and private institutions are corruption free; when all tenders and jobs are awarded on merit and merit only, not on who knows who or who can financially corrupt who.
Success will therefore be declared in an unsophisticated way when people observe positive change in their lives. However, my advice for the President is for him to have another card that he shares with the public, a score card with targets against each area on which HE can measure progress objectively. Without targets, some people might even think this was just electioneering noise (gimmick) never intended to be achieved. This would be veritable travesty and dishonesty that cannot be expected to come from our President. I wish the President well and trust that he will work hard together with his team to put targets and get positive results on these chosen five areas.
My observations and free advice on the five areas for consideration by the President and his party;
JOB CREATION AS A NUMBER ONE PRIORITY
The president is right and need to be commended for identifying job creation as a number one priority. However, seven months after the election there are no apparent positive signs to indicate that job creation is indeed a number one priority. The economy has lost close to a 1000 jobs since the elections and there are indications that more job losses are on the cards in both private and public domain. I am not aware of any new jobs that have been created since the elections. The youth policies that the government has recently introduced will not create employment but will severely eat into government coffers with no worthy returns. The leather park has potential to create over 5000 jobs but I am not convinced that government has invested enough resources in planning and finding what is required to sustain the leather park.
Where is the government going to get the requisite engineers, chemists, marketing gurus to sustain this park? Where will we get the artisans, technicians and operators to run these leather plants? Have we identified the markets and marketing challenges that we will face? If we are going to rely on expatriates do we have the schools, the medical facilities, accommodation, entertainment and the pay packets that will attract the right caliber of expatriates in Lobatse? I ask the same questions about the pula steel and the planned SPEDU agro industries in Phikwe. Diamond beneficiation has potential to create much more than the 3000 jobs offered by De Beers and sadly even these jobs are being lost as factories close and retrench. Government needs to look closely at their agreements with De Beers and get their thinking and independent hats on and make diamond beneficiation a reality that we can be proud of. Beneficiation is doable; viable with potential to create more jobs than we can supply; it only needs government willingness to engage.
We desperately need job creation for both young and old for us to graduate out of government imposed poverty. We must not remove older productive people to replace them with the younger ones for the sake of creating youth employment. This will be ’robbing Peter to pay Paul’ and is disingenuous and will rob Botswana of much needed experience. The youth need to be employed on their own merit, trained and skilled without necessarily displacing others. We need growth in our economy so that all employable Batswana can be meaningfully employed.
TAKING BATSWANA OUT OF POVERTY
Batswana are poor because they have not been given the opportunities they deserve in their own country. We seem to be glorifying and celebrating poverty by the schemes that we have employed which in my humble view are totally ill advised and burying Batswana deeper into poverty. We need to empower Batswana by providing rewarding jobs and creating business opportunities for business minded Batswana to thrive. We should not be seen to be spoon feeding the nation. Like the Chinese I say, ‘do not give me fish but teach me how to fish and go away’. The government scheme of building houses for the poor is populist, ill informed and demeaning as well as unsustainable and creating a poverty mentality that says ‘sit back government will provide’. How many of these so called poor people do we have countrywide? How many houses are we going to build? Are we going to feed and clothes these people and for how long? The poverty eradication schemes are wasting government finances and should be suspended and the money redirected towards education, training, skilling and job creation. Creation of decent jobs is the key and a number one priority that will pull our people out of poverty.
INCREASE EDUCATION FUNDING
For me this should also be a number one priority together with job creation. The two are connected together like siamese twins. It is through education that we will fill positions created by employment opportunities. It is through education that we will create employment opportunities, hence the irrefutable twinning of the two areas. Our education is in a mess. Considering the appalling conditions under which most of our students and teachers have to contend with, we must consider ourselves lucky to be still producing graduates. Sample a few primary schools, junior secondary schools, senior secondary schools and see the conditions under which our children and teachers face daily; the broken chairs, broken tables, broken windows, falling ceilings etc; the winter winds and the hot summer days when both the teacher have to be in these classrooms teaching passionately and student listening intently and absorbing what’s being taught; those teachers teaching and students being taught under trees? How many of us would like to be teachers and can we really get the best from our children? What kind of feedstock are we giving to our institutions of higher learning and subsequently industry? Finally how are these teachers remunerated considering what they are charged to deliver and the conditions under which they operate?
The presidential housing appeal and the monthly presidential and ministerial walk abouts and public servant community services days should be countrywide and redirected towards our schools. They should help with the maintenance and upkeep of the local schools. The housing appeal money must build more classrooms and put air conditioning in our schools for conducive learning environment.
ELIMINATE MOTHER TO CHILD HIV TRANSMISSION
When it comes to HIV, they are two people in this country who will go into our history books as having been real champions in the fight against HIV and aids. These are Rre Louis Nchindo (May he find peace and may his spirit live on) who was very futuristic in his outlook and realised that HIV and aids had the potential to wipe out our people if nothing was done and done fast. He introduced free HIV monitoring and treatment for all Debswana employees. This was a first in Africa if not the world. President Festus Mogae then followed suit for the country. These are the two men who saved this country from what would have been a national disaster of unimaginable proportions. This one is an area where all Batswana must champion to honour the efforts of Louis Nchindo and Festus Mogae.
FIGHT CORRUPTION AND ALL ITS MANIFESTAION
I do not real want to talk about this one, but corruption is bleeding this country regardless of what the transparency international says about us being ‘the least corrupt country in Africa’. I really do not know how they gather their data. Their intelligence gathering systems must be flawed. For me it seems they just use information supplied by government agencies and embassies. One of the major reasons why projects fail dismally and why productivity levels are low is because of corrupt practices that we covertly and sometimes overtly condone. How on earth do you get anything to be done properly when some key people in the economy are employed corruptly with no requisite aptitude for the job they do and when many tenders are awarded corruptly to companies that do not qualify? Throttling merit and competency in our procurement and recruitment processes has a devastating effect on productivity and in advancing our economic progression.
In conclusion, can BDP redeem itself? I want to believe so. The President must redouble his efforts on job creation, education and corruption to regain some ground. He does not need money as money is being wasted daily in useless endevours and corrupt practices through out government departments. Surely DIS must know where the rot is if it is not corrupt itself and together with the ministry of finance must clean the rot and rechannel the resources. The government needs to change its mind set and begin to engage well meaning and competent Batswana and experts to help in job creation, improving education and curbing corruption. The rest will then fall in place. The president must demand measurable targets and annual progress report in these three areas and heads must roll if the targets are not met. He need now more than ever competent people on his side; people with integrity; people who will tell him nothing but the truth to redeem himself and the legacy of his father.
My final advice to the President and BDP is that to survive beyond 2019, BDP needs Ndelu Seretse as chairman and Botsalo Ntuane as secretary general. These are the two men seeking leadership of the party with the requisite intellectual capacity and political savvy to help BDP survive beyond 2019. This country will need a strong opposition to keep the new government in 2019 in check. Posterity will judge BDP and the President harshly if they fail to see the winds of change that are sweeping the country and if they fail to refocus BDP by getting new capable leadership who will engage and collaborate meaningfully with the up coming astute and transformational leadership of the country!
E mail; bernard.busani@gmail.com; Tel; 71751440
News
The case for Botswana to ratify the ACDEG
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) is the most comprehensive dataset measuring African governance performance through a wide range of 81 indicators under the categories of Security & Rule of law, Participation, Rights & Inclusion, Foundations of Economic Opportunity, and Human Development. It employs scores, expressed out of 100, which quantify a country’s performance for each governance measure and ranks, out of 54, in relation to the 54 African countries.
The 2022 IIAG Overall Governance score is 68.1 and ranks Botswana at number 5 in Africa. In 2019 Botswana was ranked 2nd with an overall score of 73.3. That is a sharp decline. The best-performing countries are Mauritius, Seychelles, Tunisia, and Cabo Verde, in that order. A glance at the categories shows that Botswana is in third place in Africa on the Security and Rule of law; ninth in the Participation, Rights & Inclusion Category – indicating a shrinking participatory environment; eighth for Foundations of Economic Opportunity category; and fifth in the Human Development category.
The 2022 IIAG comes to a sweeping conclusion: Governments are less accountable and transparent in 2021 than at any time over the last ten years; Higher GDP does not necessarily indicate better governance; rule of law has weakened in the last five years; Democratic backsliding in Africa has accelerated since 2018; Major restrictions on freedom of association and assembly since 2012. Botswana is no exception to these conclusions. In fact, a look at the 10-year trend shows a major challenge. While Botswana remains in the top 5 of the best-performing countries in Africa, there are signs of decline, especially in the categories of Human Development and Security & Rule of law.
I start with this picture to show that Botswana is no longer the poster child for democracy, good governance, and commitment to the rule of law that it once was. In fact, to use the term used in the IIAG, Botswana is experiencing a “democratic backsliding.”
The 2021 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) had Botswana at 55/ 100, the lowest ever score recorded by Botswana dethroning Botswana as Africa’s least corrupt country to a distant third place, where it was in 2019 with a CPI of 61/100. (A score closer to zero denotes the worst corrupt and a score closer to 100 indicates the least corrupt country). The concern here is that while other African states are advancing in their transparency and accountability indexes, Botswana is backsliding.
The Transitional National Development Plan lists participatory democracy, the rule of law, transparency, and accountability, as key “deliverables,” if you may call those deliverables. If indeed Botswana is committed to these principles, she must ratify the African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance (ACDEG).
The African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance is the African Union’s principal policy document for advancing democratic governance in African Union member states. The ACDEG embodies the continent’s commitment to a democratic agenda and set the standards upon which countries agreed to be held accountable. The Charter was adopted in 2007 and came into force a decade ago, in 2012.
Article 2 of the Charter details its objectives among others as to a) Promote adherence, by each State Party, to the universal values and principles of democracy and respect for human rights; b) Promote and protect the independence of the judiciary; c) Promote the establishment of the necessary conditions to foster citizen participation, transparency, access to information, freedom of the press and accountability in the management of public affairs; d) Promote gender balance and equality in the governance and development processes.
The Charter emphasizes certain principles through which member states must uphold: Citizen Participation, Accountable Institutions, Respect for Human Rights, Adherence to the principles of the Rule of Law, Respect for the supremacy of the constitution and constitutional order, Entrenchment of democratic Principles, Separation of Powers, Respect for the Judiciary, Independence and impartiality of electoral bodies, best practice in the management of elections. These are among the top issues that Batswana have been calling for, that they be entrenched in the new Constitution.
The ACDEG is a revolutionary document. Article 3 of the ACDEG, sets guidance on the principles that must guide the implementation of the Charter among them: Effective participation of citizens in democratic and development processes and in the governance of public affairs; Promotion of a system of government that is representative; Holding of regular, transparent, free and fair elections; Separation of powers; Promotion of gender equality in public and private institutions and others.
Batswana have been calling for laws that make it mandatory for citizen participation in public affairs, more so, such calls have been amplified in the just-ended “consultative process” into the review of the Constitution of Botswana. Many scholars, academics, and Batswana, in general, have consistently made calls for a constitution that provides for clear separation of powers to prevent concentration of power in one branch, in Botswana’s case, the Executive, and provide for effective checks and balances. Other countries, like Kenya, have laws that promote gender equality in public and private institutions inscribed in their constitutions. The ACDEG could be a useful advocacy tool for the promotion of gender equality.
Perhaps more relevant to Botswana’s situation now is Article 10 of the Charter. Given how the constitutional review process unfolded, the numerous procedural mistakes and omissions, the lack of genuine consultations, the Charter principles could have provided a direction, if Botswana was party to the Charter. “State Parties shall ensure that the process of amendment or revision of their constitution reposes on national consensus, obtained, if need be, through referendum,” reads part of Article 10, giving clear clarity, that the Constitution belong to the people.
With the African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance in hand, ratified, and also given the many shortfalls in the current constitution, Batswana can have a tool in hand, not only to hold the government accountable but also a tool for measuring aspirations and shortfalls of our governance institutional framework.
Botswana has not signed, nor has it acceded or ratified the ACDEG. The time to ratify the ACDEG is now. Our Movement, Motheo O Mosha Society, with support from the Democracy Works Foundation and The Charter Project Africa, will run a campaign to promote, popularise and advocate for the ratification of the Charter (#RatifytheCharter Campaign). The initiative is co-founded by the European Union. The Campaign is implemented with the support of our sister organizations: Global Shapers Community – Gaborone Hub, #FamilyMeetingBW, Botswana Center for Public Integrity, Black Roots Organization, Economic Development Forum, Molao-Matters, WoTech Foundation, University of Botswana Political Science Society, Young Minds Africa and Branding Akosua.
Ratifying the Charter would reaffirm Botswana’s commitment to upholding strong democratic values, and respect for constitutionalism, and promote the rule of law and political accountability. Join us in calling the Government of Botswana to #RatifyTheCharter.
*Morena MONGANJA is the Chairperson of Motheo O Mosha society; a grassroots movement advocating for a new Constitution for Botswana. Contact: socialcontractbw@gmail.com or WhatsApp 77 469 362.
Opinions
The Taiwan Question: China ramps up military exercises to rebuff US provocations
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan has violated the One-China policy, and caused the escalation of tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Experts and political observers across the spectra agree that Pelosis actions and subsequent pronouncements by US President Joe Biden gave impetus to an already simmering tension in the Taiwan Strait, provoking China to strengthen its legitimate hold on the Taiwan Strait waters, which the US and Taiwan deem as international waters.
Pelosis visit to Chinas Taiwan region has been heavily criticised across the globe, with China arguing that this is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US Joint Communiqus. In response to this reckless move which seriously undermined China’s sovereignty, and interfered in China’s internal affairs, the expectation is for China to give a firm response. Pelosi visit violated the commitments made by the U.S. side, and seriously jeopardized peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
To give context to Chinas position over Taiwan region, the history behind gives us perspective. It is also important to note that the history between China and Taiwan is well documented and the US has always recognized it.
The Peoples Republic of China recognises Taiwan as its territory. It has always been the case even before the Nationalist Republic of China government fled to the previously Japanese-ruled Island after losing the civil war on the mainland in 1949. According to literature that threat was contained for decades first with a military alliance between the US and the ROC on Taiwan, and after Washington switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC in 1979 by the US One China policy, which acknowledges Beijings position that Taiwan is part of One China. Effectively, Taiwans administration was transferred to the Republic of China from Japan after the Second World War in 1945, along with the split between the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) as a consequence of the Chinese Civil War. Disregarding this history, as the US is attempting to do, will surely initiate some defence reaction on the side of China to affirm its sovereignty.
However, this history was undermined since Taiwan claimed to democratise in the 1990s and China has grown ever more belligerent. Furthermore, it is well documented that the Biden administration, following the Trump presidency, has made subtle changes in the way it deals with Taipei, such as loosening restrictions on US officials meeting Taiwanese officials this should make China uneasy. And while the White House continues to say it does not support Taiwanese independence, Bidens words and actions are parallel to this pledge because he has warned China that the US would intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan another statement that has provoked China.
Pelosi, in her private space, would know that her actions amount to provocation of China. This act of aggression by the USA seriously undermines the virtues of sovereignty and territorial integrity which has a huge potential to destabilize not only the Taiwan Strait but the whole of the Asia- Pacific region. The Americans know very well that their provocative behavior is deliberately invoking the spirit of separatism masqueraded as Taiwan independence. The US is misled to think that by supporting separatism of Taiwan from China that would give them an edge over China in a geopolitics. This is what one Chinese diplomat said this week: The critical point is if every country put their One-China policy into practice with sincerity, with no compromise, is going to guarantee the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Therefore, it was in the wake of US House speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan, that China, in a natural response revealed plans for unprecedented military exercises near the island, prompting fears of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait and the entire Asia-Pacific region. The world community must promote and foster peace, this may be achieved when international laws are respected. It may also happen when nations respect the sovereignty of another. China may be in a better space because it is well capacitated to stake its territorial integrity, what about a small nation, if this happens to it?
As to why military exercises by Beijing; it is an expected response because China was provoked by the actions of Pelosi. To fortify this position, Chinese President, Xi signed a legal basis for Chinas Peoples Liberation Army to safeguard Chinas national sovereignty, security and development interests. The legal basis will also allow military missions around disaster relief, humanitarian aid and peacekeeping. In addition the legal changes would allow troops to prevent spillover effects of regional instabilities from affecting China, secure vital transport routes for strategic materials like oil, or safeguard Chinas overseas investments, projects and personnel. It then follows that President Xis administration cannot afford to look weak under a US provocation. President Xi must protector Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, of which Taiwan is a central part. Beijing is very clear on One-China Policy, and expects all world players to recognize and respect it.
The Peoples Liberation Army has made it clear that it has firepower that covers all of Taiwan, and it can strike wherever it wants. This sentiments have been attributed to Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the PLA Navy Research Institute. Zheng further said, We got really close to Taiwan. We encircled Taiwan. And we demonstrated that we can effectively stop intervention by foreign forces. This is a strong reaction from China to warn the US against provocation and violation of the One-China Policy.
Beijings military exercises will certainly shake Taiwans confidence in the sources of its economic and political survival. The potential for an effective blockade threatens the air and shipping routes that support Taiwans central role in global technology supply chains. Should a humanitarian situation arise in Taiwan, the blame would squarely be on the US.
As Chinas military exercises along the Taiwan Strait progress and grow, it remains that the decision by Nancy Pelosi to visit Chinas Taiwan region gravely undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sent a wrong signal to Taiwan independence separatist forces. This then speaks to international conventions, as the UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres explicitly stressed that the UN remains committed to the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758. The centerpiece is the one-China principle, namely, there is but one China in the world, the government of the Peoples Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is a part of China. It must be noted that the US and the US-led NATO countries have selectively applied international law, this has been going on unabated. There is a plethora of actions that have collapsed several states after they were attacked under the pretext of the so-called possession of weapons of mass destruction illuminating them as threats – and sometimes even without any valid reason. to blatantly launch military strikes and even unleash wars on sovereign countrie
Opinions
Internal party-democracy under pressure
British novelist, W. Somerset Maugham once opined: If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.
The truism in these words cannot be underestimated, especially when contextualizing against the political developments in Botswana. We have become a nation that does not value democracy, yet nothing represent freedom more than democracy. In fact, we desire, and value winning power or clinging to power more than anything else, even if it harms the democratic credentials of our political institutions. This is happening across political parties ruling and opposition.
As far as democracy is concerned, we are regressing. We are becoming worse-off than we were in the past. If not arrested, Botswana will lose its status as among few democratic nations in the Africa. Ironically, Botswana was the first country in Africa to embrace democracy, and has held elections every five years without fail since independence.
We were once viewed as the shining example of Africa. Those accolades are not worth it any more. Young democracies such as South Africa, with strong institutions, deserves to be exalted. Botswana has lost faith in democracy, and we will pay a price for it. It is a slippery slope to dictatorship, which will bring among other excess, assault on civil liberties and human rights violations.
Former President, Festus Mogae once stated that Botswanas democracy will only become authentic, when a different party, other than the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) wins elections, and when the President of such party is not from Serowe.
Although many may not publicly care to admit, Mogaes assertion is true. BDP has over the years projected itself as a dyed-in-the-wool proponent of democracy, but the moment its stay in power became threatened and uncertain, it started behaving in a manner that is at variance with democratic values.This has been happening over the years now, and the situation is getting worse by the day.
Recently, the BDP party leadership has been preaching compromise and consensus candidates for 2024 general elections. Essentially, the leadership has lost faith in theBulela Ditswedispensation, which has been used to selected party candidates for council and parliament since 2003. The leadership is discouraging democracy because they believe primary elections threaten party unity. It is a strange assertion indeed.
Bulela Ditswewas an enrichment of internal party democracy in the sense that it replaced the previous method of selection of candidates known as Committee of 18, in which a branch committee made of 18 people endorsed the representatives. While it is true that political contest can divide, the ruling party should be investing in political education and strengthening in its primary elections processes. Democracy does not come cheap or easy, but it is valuable.
Any unity that we desire so much at the expense of democracy is not true unity. Like W. Somerset Maugham said, democracy would be lost in the process, and ultimately, even the unity that was desired would eventually be lost too. Any solution that sacrifice democracy would not bring any results in the long run, except misery.
We have seen that also in opposition ranks. The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) recently indicated that its incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs) should not be challenged for their seats. While BDP is sacrificing democracy to stay in power, UDC is sacrificing democracy to win power. It is a scary reality given the fact that both parties ruling and opposition have embraced this position and believe democracy is the hindrance to their political ambitions.
These current reality points to one thing; our political parties have lost faith in democracy. They desire power more than, the purpose of power itself. It is also a crisis of leadership across the political divide, where we have seen dissenting views being met with persecution. We have seen perverting of political process endorsed by those in echelons of power to manipulate political outcomes in their favour.
Democracy should not be optional, it should be mandatory. Any leader proposing curtailing of democracy should be viewed with suspicion, and his adventures should be rejected before it is too late. Members of political parties, as subscribers of democracy, should collectively rise to the occasion to save their democracy from self-interest that is becoming prevalent among Botswana political parties.
The so-called compromise candidates, only benefits the leadership because it creates comforts for them. But for members, and for the nation, it is causing damage by reversing the gains that have been made over the years. We should reject leaders who only preach democracy in word, but are hesitant to practice it.