“As the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I have authorised His Honour the Vice President to continue to pilot government aircraft when the occasion warrants, and this he does,” Mogae’s statement said.
Mogae added that Khama is a trained pilot and those who criticise him must rather congratulate him on this achievement.
But a Lobatse-based lawyer has dismissed Mogae’s reasoning as baseless. “This is nonsense. Off my head, I don’t think the president has executive powers to do so. Look, the Ombudsman, an institution established by law, has made a recommendation on that case. The President does not even make reference to that. What message is he communicating? Does he recognise the Ombudsman’s office?” asked the lawyer.
A Francistown-based lawyer was even more scathing in his attack of Mogae. “The president’s statement is most unfortunate. It renders the office of the Ombudsman nugatory. The office was created to ensure that there are no excesses in government, and in the management of government assets. The privilege that the President is talking about is not defined by black letter law. The parameters are not defined in the Constitution. The Ombudsman does not report to the President but to Parliament. The President is an interested party and he cannot intervene in a matter like this. In the statement, he refers to complaints being made during election times and this shows that he knows that it is wrong. He even creates suspicion that something wrong is taking place by refusing to have the Ombudsman’s report tabled before Parliament. It is as if the office of the Ombudsman is non-existent,” said the lawyer.
Executive Secretary of the Botswana National Front (BNF) James Mathokgwane has similarly slammed Mogae’s behaviour. “Mogae is abusing office. What he is doing is not supported by law. He has not risen above the shadow of Ian Khama. The Ombudsman’s office has been turned into a toothless dog. It has been overlooked. For the first time, Mogae is reminding the nation that he is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and I fear for the worst,” said Mathokgwane.
However, another lawyer has argued that Mogae has executive powers to do so. He cites Section 47 of the Constitution of Botswana. “What I think went wrong is poor communication, failure to communicate timeously. The public was never told about that. This has caused the nation to be in a state of confusion,” said a University of Botswana (UB) law academic, who also said that there needs to be a clear line between public use and abuse by politicians. He said a mechanism had to be put in place to ensure that the President and Vice President do not abuse public property. “Civil society can help in this regard. We need a vibrant civil society that can speak out,” he said.
He added that the President wields executive power even if he has delegated some of it to some people. Asked if a qualified pilot such as opposition MP Michael Mzwinila could be allowed to pilot army aircraft, he said the question was whether such a request has been made.
Mogae’s press secretary, Ramsay said Mogae would not give in to public pressure. “With due respect, the Ombudsman’s recommendation has been noted. I think the statement is very clear. The President and the Vice President are entitled to official transport. It is not very different from Mr (Thabo) Mbeki, Mr (Tony) Blair or any other leader. I can’t swear by every country but that is what most countries do,” said a chuckling Ramsay.
Asked if opposition pilots can also use government property for party business, Ramsay said, “If Mzwinila gets to be Vice President, he may get a chance to fly them”.
