Mock battles, clowns and reality

| Thursday June 26, 2008 00:00

It was through such conversations that I was persuaded to attend what is known as Botswana Defence Force day. I was moved by the circumspect ability of our soldiers in making civilians stand aghast, as they demonstrated their mesmerising skills of making people believe there was a battle in the national stadium, when none existed. They did this through their scintillating brilliance conspicuously exhibit of how military victories in battles are realised. It is interesting to watch military men playing their war games using their military jargon to impress their audience. As I enjoyed every movement they made, I got overcome by exasperation, because it dawned upon me that the war games and clowns, as well as related activities I watched, were paid for by my impoverished nation. On that vocation of agony and profound conviction, I vowed never to attend or facilitate the attendance by anyone of such wasteful risky adventures.

I kept visiting my friends in the military and on numerous occasions found my friends fatigued from day long military activities. They would tell me how they spent hours firing at a stationary object perfecting their skills in preparation for any military attack. They would convince me that should external enemies besiege the country; I would understand why it was necessary for them to engage in military games. I had on such visits, not only got emotionally challenged by the military tales, but I despised the great strength that I felt was put to waste in shooting stationary targets. They told me that their performance in shooting stationary objects, performing as clowns, wasting public resources on unnecessary air displays, transporting their children to schools using military resources and telling jokes to titillate their superiors, were part of what was assessed in determining their promotions and other rewards. They mournfully told me that a soldier can be expelled from the defence force for refusing to get involved in mock battles, clown team or air display. Simply put, it would be mutiny if teams of clowns were to become rational and refuse to perform before an audience of preschool kids. I stopped visiting my beloved friends in the military, because I never got to understand why they could entertain such tragic decisions. I was devastated because some men and women were languishing in abysmal poverty, when resources were wasted in paying people for mock battles, clowning and jokes. (It is important to note that even then modern technology allowed for shooting at motion targets) (Polytronic International & CK technology Sprl has information). 

It was on the 14th of June 1985 that we came face to face with reality and not war stories and games. It became evident that my friends were incompetent cowards that robbed the nation of its hard earned resources. They failed to fire even a single shot when our innocent brothers and sisters were mowed down by apartheid bullets. The poor nation had invested its trust in their ability to defend it and was betrayed. Be reminded that His Excellency the President and his deputy were military commanders at the time. What happened on the mentioned date was a raid and not a mock battle or a team of clowns visiting. Innocent lives were lost and the nation had to tremble in disbelief at the ruthlessness of the racists. They were other attacks carried out by South African Defence Force (SADF), but the aforementioned is the one that I can vividly remember, because I was next to the military camp at the time. I can however state with some degree of certainty that, no bullet was ever fired by BDF in retaliation against SADF in any other attack in Botswana.

The most important question that comes to mind when soldiers become politicians is whether they get enough orientation, to make it incandescently clear to them that, in politics things are real . Development is not like military games, but it entails meaningful rehabilitation of the poor, through well thought out programmes guided by vocation of industriousness and humanitarian instincts. It requires a lot of planning and not firing money at problems, in a way bullets are fired at motionless targets. It requires prudence and perspicacious judgement on global affairs so as to win in fierce global economic battles, where investment oriented and shrewd countries diversify their reserves into stronger currencies, to guard against obvious monetary loses, as the US dollar plummets. Peter Tosh predicted, 'The day the Dollar die', under the fiscal irresponsible government of Ntate Sekgwa wa ntlo e tshweu. (He also served in the military).

When they lead a democratic party, they need not falsify, but embrace democratic values characterised by both fundamental beliefs and constitutional principles. This is the reality that compares well to the invasion that claimed innocent lives on the 14th of June, 1985, and not mock battles at the national stadium on BDF day. No innocent representative of the people should be denied an opportunity to express his/her views on issues that either directly or indirectly concern citizens of his/her beloved country. This is what democracy entails in its true form and not as interpreted in military circles. I know that Late General Idi Amin Dada (Conqueror of the British Empire and last King of Scotland) had his own form of democracy, just as he also had his own type of navy that had no warships, but few boats. This was the perception by a man, whose mind was corrupted by mock battles, clowning and listening to jokes.

Discipline is important for any country but not when it is meant to instil obsequious behaviour or sycophancy on true representatives of the masses. This is what the real world rejects as frighteningly irrelevant. If a democratic party turns dictatorial or militaristic, it should immediately be de-registered. It can be re-registered as: Political Organisation of Military Oligarchic (POMO), Poligarchy of Submissive Representatives, (PSR) Oppression and Harassment Party (OHP), Party of the Silent (PS) or even Political Party of Military Clique (PPMC). There is need for conscientious objection to emerging patterns of suppression that have come to characterise our beloved country and continent. Where the civil servants are threatened with dismissals, civil service politicised, criminal friends given favourable verdicts, legislators and the press silenced, innocent children expelled from schools when their impoverished parents can not afford to pay school fees, the opposition ridiculed and demonised, money siphoned through meaningless commissions and consultancies, financial institutions and government swindled by unscrupulous investors, poor people terrorised by exorcist white farmers, national treasures such as game confined to farms owned by elites, cultures of minority tribes subverted, women marginalised, poor workers exploited, innocent people serving their sentences to the end waiting for their appeals, hospitals operating without drugs and our national language corrupted; it would be betrayal and gross irresponsibility to ignore these realities. It would be lack of valour on the side of patriotic individuals to stand akimbo and hopelessly stare at our country gravitating into a kakistocracy.  I do not want to be misconstrued to be advocating for recalcitrant incivility in the civil service. I am however, wholeheartedly against school fees and other aforementioned transgressions. I know that some of the people who promulgate their support for school fees receive fringe benefits that include school fees for their children. This is naked hypocrisy that is worth a curse.

I kindly request those who wield both political and economic power to be guided, because J.F.Kennedy once echoed that, 'those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable'

I am already over burdened and my schedule is tight. I had to pray for Kenya's political turmoil to end, and Zimbabwe's bloodbath and desperate pass and Barolong versus white farmers' acrimonious disputes to be resolved. I would not like to have Botswana leadership on the list as well.

I have to pray because if the doomsday was to be next week and I was asked what I did about crisis in Africa by my creator, my response will be, 'since I had no political and economic power, I used the spiritual power and prayed'. Just imagine if the African leaders were lined up and asked the same question. It will only be the South African president (militarily trained) who will be saved because he will simply say, 'My Lord, I saw no crises.' As for those who saw crisis, they will have to struggle with the second question, 'What did you do?' 
Let me go; it's prayer time.
Dama Mosweunyane
Mahalapye