The State of the Nation undressed

If the State of the Nation address can be compared to a balance sheet report at an annual shareholders (read electorates) meeting, then our chief executive officer, President Mogae, was very economic with the truth, in that he only presented on the assets and not on the liabilities.

It is, however, incumbent upon the shareholders to scrutinise the balance sheet for any discrepancies. You see, I have always had this funny feeling that there is something surrealistic about the Botswana Democratic Party (the BDP). That is until I read a story about Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (the PRI). The nomenclature of the two  parties is a classic case of contradiction in terms, if not complete misnomer. There is nothing democratic about the BDP or anything revolutionary about the PRI. For close to 70 years, Mexico was ruled by the PRI, which first came to power in 1929. Mexico has held general elections religiously since then, and every general election was won by the PRI, until one day in 2000 when the National Action Party ended the 70 years de facto one party state. During its heyday, the PRI acquired the dubious description of the world's most efficient electoral machinery for its ability to always win elections, even when indicators were that it would lose. In 1938, the PRI introduced a policy in which the sitting President would handpick his successor, to guarantee continuity of the 'good work' of the party, and, needless to say, to make sure that things remain pretty much the same. Although the PRI  paraded itself as a revolutionary party that stood for the masses of the under-trodden, Mexico has been characterised by massive social inequalities and poverty. About 17 percent of Mexicans live in absolute poverty, and hundreds of thousands do menial jobs in the USA, working in strawberry fields, or as domestic workers. Thousands more die trying to scale the 3,000 km electrified border fence between Mexico and the USA. An anecdote is told about how one day, on approaching a T-junction, the driver of the leader of the 'revolutionary party', asked a passenger which way to turn. "Signal left, but turn right' said the venerate leader, without taking eyes off the Wall Street journal he was reading. In the last presidential elections in 2006, the  ruling NPA presidential candidate won with 35.9 percent of the popular vote, whilst the left wing mayor of Mexico City, Lopez Obrador, won 35.4 percent of the popular vote, a margin of less than half a percent. Demands for re-election or re-count were dismissed by the rightwing Supreme Court, much to the delight of the USA.

Enter Botswana. The country became independent in 1966, after 80 years of British colonial rule. The ruling BDP insist however that Botswana was not a colony but a protectorate. And in a theatrical performance only reminiscent of the antics of an American 'house nigger' during the days of slavery, President Mogae shouted "we were a crown protectorate, not a crown colony" from the rooftop of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Kampala recently, as he presented the British Queen with a brooch studded with Botswana diamonds. How pathetic! But this is really not the issue, except to say that thanks to the shenanigans of the colonial state officials, the BDP which was founded in 1961, started to rule long before the March 1965 general elections. You see, the people in the Legislative Council were same people who founded the BDP. The BDP leader Seretse Khama, was then called Leader of Government Business. When the 1965 elections came, the BDP had been the incumbent party  for four years,  without having had to fight any elections. The BDP has been in power for 46 years, (1961-2007) and not 40 years. Like Mexico, Botswana has religiously held general elections since 1965, and all the elections were won by the ruling party, just like Mexico, before 2000. Botswana political and economic framework has acquired the distinction of being the best in Africa. But unemployment rate is at more than 30 percent (I deliberately include the so-called discouraged job seekers). Conservative estimates reveal that 23. 4 percent of Batswana live on less than one dollar a day, and this  figure rises to 36 percent in the rural areas.

Editor's Comment
Congratulations Anicia Gaothuse!

The contest had 10 beautiful young girls as finalists and unfortunately only one could wear the crown.The judges picked Anicia Gaothuse. To all those who feel their contestant should have won ahead of Anicia for whatever reason, hardly; the judges found Anicia to be the best among the best, so desist from disrespecting our newly crowned queen on social media or anywhere else, for that matter! Each of the 10 beautiful young women had supporters...

Have a Story? Send Us a tip
arrow up