The suffering grass

Mmegi Editor | Monday April 17, 2023 06:00

Shortly after the most recession review held towards the end of March in Geneva, popular South African media outlets, Newzroom Afrika and News24, ran strikingly similar reports on Botswana’s “backsliding civil and political rights” as well as “anti-democratic repression and a rising tide of political persecution and violence”.

A look beyond the headlines reveals that the primary source of both articles rather than being facts established or accepted by the United Nations, is actually presentations made by Omnia Strategy, a UK-based law firm that “specialises in dispute prevention and resolution around the globe,” according to its website.

Omnia Strategy, it will be recalled, is the same firm that in August 2020 released what it called “an independent forensic investigation into allegations of money laundering” which absolved former president, Ian Khama.

Documents emerging from the latest UPR show that the allegations about democratic backsliding and political oppression were made by Omnia and its representatives, specifically its chair, Cherie Blair and South African Judge Dumisa Ntsebeza.

Ntsebeza is judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights but in his introductory remarks in Geneva, specifically said he was “delivering this statement on behalf of Omnia Strategy LLP”.

Whether the former president is a client of Omnia Strategy, or the firm still acts on his behalf or instruction or what arrangement exists between the two, is immaterial. The import of the messages disseminated through mass media after the latest UPR, however, are yet another example of how the grass suffers when elephants fight.

The former president and his handpicked successor have waged a bare-knuckled fight over the years, which has increasingly turned into the theatre of international attention.

Khama has taken his battle to the United Kingdom, railing against the current administration’s elephant management back home policies, while using every available opportunity and media platform to launch the relentless assault he accuses his predecessor of.

The trouble, however, is that far from personally injuring President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the battle between the two is harming the economy, beginning with tarnishing the country’s tourism image and its long-cherished environmental management record.

The allegations made at the UPR are within Omnia’s rights as an observer, but the media campaign carries the (un) intended consequence of harming the country’s carefully curated and globally renowned investment climate, particularly through the assault on key pillars such as political freedom, respect for the rule of law, commitment to governance, stability and predictability of the judicial system.

Is Masisi’s administration perfect? No. Is the country’s human rights’ performance spotless? Not at all. But a disingenuous media decampaigning of the country and its economy, whether intended or not, is akin to burning a house to kill a mouse.