Masisi silences critics but...
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday January 31, 2022 06:00
The President duly employed powers vested upon him to fire and hire Cabinet in an endeavour to silence his critics. There are, however, concerns from some quarters that he should not have fired in particular the Lobatse legislator, high performing Thapelo Matsheka simply on the basis of their political differences as it may backfire.
When Matsheka was appointed to Cabinet as Finance Minister, post 2019 general election, there were raving reviews that he was the most suitable appointment given his credentials. No one could deduce that one day he will fall out with President Masisi who a few months ago demoted him (Matsheka) from the Finance portfolio to Infrastructure and Housing Development before he finally exited him from the Executive to the backbench. This was seen as a demotion to the man who was highly regarded.
To Masisi’s supporters, their man is proving to all and sundry that no one in the party and government is indispensable especially when one fails to toe the party line. Unfortunately, it is increasingly becoming apparent that Masisi and his allies are slowly becoming intolerant, prompting others within the party ranks to revolt against them.
From the unfolding situation, purging of party operatives considered to be opposing Masisi has begun in earnest. It all started with councillors considered to be pro-Mpho Balopi when the party leadership suspended them and were later slapped with disciplinary charges for their communication that allegedly brought the party into disrepute through WhatsApp groups.
The Masisi-led government was served with a resignation letter late last year when Balopi resigned immediately after a long tortuous sojourn. The relationship between Balopi, who is also the BDP secretary-general and Masisi, has broken down irretrievably. These were very close buddies who had symbiotic political relationship.
That is the nature of politics: Yesterday’s friends are today’s foes and vice versa.
Balopi, Matsheka and others are alleged to be part of a faction that is giving the dominant Masisi faction a torrid time. They have already registered intentions to challenge Vice President Slumber Tsogwane for the position of party chairperson at the next party elective congress. Even Masisi might face a challenge from the same group. Balopi has, however, denied harbouring intentions to challenge Masisi.
Tsogwane is considered a ‘weakling’ in the party generally, something that has raised appetite especially amongst those who consider themselves most suited to the party position to declare their intentions to take the VP head on, to the chagrin of Masisi.
It seems there is no love lost between Masisi and the alleged Balopi faction and this might in the long-term prove to be a costly exercise as bare-knuckled political fights continue to be the order of the day.
Allowing factions to be so deeply embedded in the party again, especially for a party that for a long time was rocked by factionalism, might be a costly exercise.
The events of 2010 for instance, when a splinter party, the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) was birthed after a marginaised faction known as Barata Phathi morphed into a fully-fledged political party are still fresh in our minds.
Barata Phathi factionalists decided to form a new party when they realised that the BDP led by former president Ian Khama excluded them from both party and government. Their efforts to fight for inclusion could not bear fruit until they bolted out or were simply fired from the party.
For starters, the BDP would experience another split just on the eve of the 2019 general election (when Khama, who fell out with Masisi) and other party faithful mainly in the Central District split to form the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), a regional party based mainly in the heart of the country - the Central District.
Another major event occurred ahead of the 2019 general election when Masisi intolerably fired former minister and party veteran Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi from Cabinet merely for her declaration to challenge him for the party presidency.
This is despite that the BDP constitution duly permits anyone to challenge for a position of one’s preference. Venson-Moitoi would later chicken out of the race at an elective congress and cried foul at the time that the State machinery was unleashed to torment her as she claimed that the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) was spying on her activities left, right and centre. Accusations that she was a foreigner from Malawi were thrown into the public domain purely de-campaigning her. She was challenged to renounce her Malawian citizenship.
University of Botswana (UB) lecturer in politics and administrative studies, Adam Mfundisi says through the reshuffle, President Masisi has shown that he is a political narcissist bent on purging his competitors or those who threaten his position in both the BDP and government.
He posits that Masisi is highly insecure, and the sense of insecurity prompts him not to trust anyone. “What he did to former president Khama is something unpalatable and he does not want it to be done unto him. He is warding off potential or perceived threats with vigour and determination. He is leaving nothing to chance and therefore, surrounds himself with cheerleaders,” responded Mfundisi in an interview this week.
He added: “He perceives Matsheka to be a real and perceived threat to his regime. The President will not forgive MP Matsheka for revealing corruption in government in which more than 35% budgeted funds go to waste. Matsheka, also promised to account for the revenues used during COVID-19 pandemic particularly money used during lockdown providing relief packages to the needy. Corruption proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he was prepared to account and make other government ministries to do the same.” Matsheka’s position on ethical and accountability management irked corrupt elements in the BDP, noted Mfundisi.
He describes Matsheka as one of the most competent ministers in the Masisi-led Cabinet. A rising star in Cabinet and opposition MPs lauded him with praises for excellent performance and honesty amidst a pathologically lying government.
He said one can say the dumping of Matsheka is a political blunder but reality is that this was forthcoming. The Masisi-led government has displayed unethical and unaccountable behaviour on its operatives. “Matsheka in all fairness, has shown within the Cabinet, honesty and integrity to the chagrin of his fellow ministers. He was willing to listen to opposition MPs and acknowledge failures by his ministry and himself. What we have now is a patronage Cabinet which is on course to cause damage to the economy, society, and polity in Botswana,” said Mfundisi. The cult of personality, he noted, has taken root in the country leading to socio-economic and political malaise.
The UB academic was adamant that the State is controlled and administered to benefit a small fraction of the population particularly those aligned to the BDP. He feared that a personalised authoritarian leadership is taking centre stage in Botswana.
Politics of mutual distrust, suspicion, loyalty and resentment, on the other hand, he pointed out, ”is becoming the culture leading to the pursuit of personal ambition and adulation.”
He added: “All in all, the removal of one of the most competent and ethical ministers from Cabinet was long overdue. He was a serious challenger to the President and together with MP Balopi would provide a viable threat to an already insecure Masisi. MP Matsheka should have resigned like MP Balopi to deny Masisi some glory on firing him. Divide and rule strategy is the weapon Masisi utilises to disorientate his real and perceived opponents within and without the BDP.”
It’s a given that the Constitution of Botswana vests the President with wide ranging powers including the prerogative to appoint and dismiss Cabinet ministers. Cabinet ministers serve at his pleasure.
The Cabinet in Botswana does not share Executive powers with the President. It is merely an advisory body to the President. The Office of the President drives public policy not individual ministers. And therefore, any minister who challenges or purported to be challenging that arrangement is fired or ostracised by the Cabinet, a revolt within the BDP against MEK. A Cabinet position gives politicians somewhat political clout and resources. Deprived of such, one becomes vulnerable. As a non-Cabinet member, one does not receive confidential information on the operations of government. The BDP has a culture of intolerance against insiders as well as outsiders. Masisi becomes unchallengeable for BDP souls and hearts.
He will use his executive powers to promote the chances of his loyalists to have them elected to national positions in the party. Masisi is, however, in a precarious position partly due to erosion of confidence and trust in government and the BDP. Some powerful forces within the party are lobbying for his removal.
Another political commentator-cum writer Dolly Byrone Thebe suggests that it must have been a harrowing experience to replace the highly educated and decorated Matsheka and the secretary-general Balopi who commands a lot of respect among the rank and file of the party.
Thebe insists that not so long ago, the President had reshuffled his Cabinet following the unexpected resignation from Cabinet of a prominent former Judge and scholar, Unity Dow. In good times Dow had been a staunch supporter of Masisi but left after what appeared to be a big fall out with the leadership. Matsheka had been Masisi’s number one choice for the plum ministry of Finance but was shockingly redeployed to the less prestigious ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development. This move signalled early signs of trouble in paradise and many political pundits and perceived prophets of doom concluded that it would be a matter of time before Matsheka was out of Cabinet. “That indeed has come to pass. But apologists of the system downplayed what appeared to be the emergence of irreconcilable differences between the President and his senior ministers.
They sold the narrative that the President was fully in charge and doing what a visionary and effective leader would do,” the political commentator observed.
Indeed, Masisi seems to be ridding the party of insubordinate and rebellious elements. But a simmering danger just like pregnancy cannot be concealed forever.
The BDP is at war with itself suffering from self-inflicted afflictions. So, the President, insists Thebe, forced reconstitution of Cabinet is a logical consequence of an ailing and faction-riddled party. God knows how well the President is going to navigate what seems to be a political haemorrhage? “The BDP should swallow its pride and call 911 for a rescuing mission. Of course, it would not be politically expedient to openly declare that the health of the once mighty party was failing.
That would be political suicide rendering the party to be susceptible to external dangers,” Thebe advises. Just like former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki’s infamous comment on the Zimbabwean situation, ‘there is no crisis in Zimbabwe’. The BDP is allowed to flatter and deceive itself (at its own peril) by giving itself a clean bill of health.