SONA (part1) Listening to HE Khama presenting SONA one would be excused for imagining BW is in the league of developed nations. His views depicts not only a country & people blessed with state of the art modernity & sophistication, of democracy, infrastructure, economy, technology & science, a different BW from the one we know, some utopia, real only to the fertile imagination of the BDP. Contrary to Khamas ideal BW a lot has gone awful & will follow his presentation to demonstrate how, starting with democracy; election remain relatively peaceful/free but manifestly unfair. For instance it is not uncommon for those who rely on government welfarism i.e. Ipelegeng, destitute/poor, disabled are made to vote the ruling party to ensure they continue to receive rations or benefits which they are made to believe are favors only BDP in power can give, thus leaving them with no or little choice, given their vulnerability, those working in cattle posts, farms & or as servants in one form or other have their choices more often than not aligned with & by their masters. These vote patronizing or blackmailing undermines the much ado about free elections that are not only underplayed but sugarcoated with free & fair icing on top. BW elections are grossly unfair with ruling party abusing incumbency with reckless abandon, president & his vice literally traverse the with & breath of the country campaigning using government resources including helicopters under the pretext of incumbency, minsters tour mainly their constituencies under the guise of official duty & by the time election come, the ruling party has covered every part of the country on campaign trail. The current Vice President tasted own medicine when he contested for chairmanship of the ruling party in 2003 & had to accept his fate when he said silver or gold I dont have, but what I have, I give you against an over-resourced then Vice, now President, Khama. Ruling party benefits handsomely from business community that seeks favors by showing benevolence towards government (& very apprehensive to assisting opposition) which by far is the largest consumer of goods & services as admitted in the speech, as if that is not enough ruling party treasurer, among other financiers, supply government in various sectors including cars & donates generously to the ruling party & in turn continue to recoup their money as & when supplying government with an assortment of goods & services, hence government/ruling party remains intransigent to political party funding and other political reforms that will level the playing field & or engender democracy. Ruling party gets a bigger share in coverage from state media (in between & throughout but mainly during election), which is at its mercy & serve at its pleasure. The president & minister of local government issue writs of parliament & council respectively, therefore being privileged to do so when they & their parties participate in the election can only undermine IEC independence, its credibility & democracy. BW parliament is weak and falls under office of the president with a constitution that bestows overwhelming power in the person of the president at the expense of democratic institutions, thus making him a unilateralist by any stretch of imagination, perpetuating one party hegemony and monolithic defacto one party supremacy. President hails consultation as a cornerstone of BWs democracy, which assertion is flawed & glosses over democratic shortcomings of this highly manipulated institution. Consultation through kgotla has proved inadequate as mostly the elderly attend while the majority would be either held up due to work or other commitments or or simply disinterested as their voice continue to be ignored with impunity. Policies & bills (laws) are by & large the prerogative of the ruling elites who then present them to the elderly in kgotla meetings which often causes dissatisfaction as they are passed with little input from important stakeholders, whom are directly affected by them. With the advent of advanced technologies, it would be easy to reach out more through digital media, including social networks. Recently the then Leader of Opposition Dumelang Saleshando met unprecedented resistance and eventually was stopped from addressing kgotla meetings nationally arguing that he wanted to politicize the forum despite having made his intentions clear that he wanted to consult the nation in his official capacity & present opposition perspective, a polarized nation that we are would benefit from all inclusive political leadership. Khama regime seems least bothered by the polarity & continues to be divisive with its condescending attitude towards important stakeholders mainly the opposition parties, hence unhappy & disillusioned nation divided between the rulers & the ruled, the patriotic & the un patriotic etc which lead to apathy. International rankings has become fashionable and government is overly obsessed with it even though they seem to appraise institutions & laws more than the effectiveness & efficacy of same, while they remain useful tools that should buttress the objective conditions on the ground not to speak parallel to or substitute what obtains as is sometimes the case. BW is replete with institutions & laws that on the surface appear or are similar to those elsewhere as they are deficient in one way or other, hence rankings tend to be grossly misleading. In other words, BWs democracy leaves a lot to be desired, resulting in international accolades that are contrasted by locals indignation, which doesnt auger well for real leadership for real delivery
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 08:37:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015