The aisle that skunks
Lewanika Timothy | Monday December 25, 2023 06:00
Like the old feeble suggests, not all that glitters is gold and a peep into Botswana’s castle in the air reveals a rather bitter sweet narrative. Democracy as a political ideal, functions best at the backdrop of an army of institutions that need to be well oiled for the government of the people by the people to live out its creed.
At the centre of an array of these institutions is Parliament. Without a flinch, Parliament is surely the skeleton on which democracies flesh stands. In Botswana, Parliament is the supreme legislative body of government. It is a house of constituency representatives that makes laws in the country.
Parliament is also constitutionally responsible for providing oversight to government, maintaining a healthy system of checks and balances. When all is said and done Parliament’s main task is to make, amend and pass bills that serve the best interest of the polity. Despite a glorious mandate, the Parliament of Botswana has at many times failed to live up to its commitment and debt to the electorate, with bills that are a matter of life and death to the polity failing to see the light of the day simply because they emanate from one end of the bench.
To lay bare the character of Botswana’s Parliament, one has to examine first the physical topology of its set up. The sitting order of Parliament reveals the first symptom of a cancerous ordeal, like an army rising to tussle against each other Members of Parliament sit by political party division with the ruling party flexing its numbers to the left against a small opposition sitting to the right.
Sitting against each other like vexed patients suffering from stinking hate against each other, Botswana legislators sit divided by an aisle that represents the death of true democracy, an aisle metaphoric for the birth of party supremacy over the voter’s supremacy. Reversing the wheel of time, parliamentary events prove that Parliament boils down to a game of numbers. Motions don’t pass because of their urgency or importance to the polity rather to what party caucuses have ruled on matters. In 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic amid a financially punishing economy for citizens, Parliament rejected a motion by Member of Parliament for Bobonong, Taolo Lucas who tabled a bill to stop Botswana Housing Corporations from hiking rentals during the pandemic. Lucas, who is a Botswana Congress Party (BCP) legislator, wanted Parliament to defer the adjustments by a year due to the economic distress imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on tenants and citizens in general. The BDP used its numbers to thwart the bill and cited financial constraints and the autonomy of the parastatal as an impediment to the bill.
The rental hike would later add problems to inflation when they compounded in the increase of administered prices that is prices controlled by government such as rentals and utilities causing the Bank of Botswana to hike interest rates in progressive quarters making the situation more unbearable. In 2022, the government rejected a water provision bill for Batswana living in remote areas that are not regarded as villages by government. The bill was tabled by Member of Parliament for Ngami, Kainangura Hikuama. Hikuama was requesting government to consider providing clean drinking water to rural communities in farming areas and ungazetted settlements. “It is unacceptable for a democracy to block access or provision of safe and portable water to its people through legislation and policy.
It would give sense if consideration for access and provision of potable water to people is on the basis of resource availability and capacity not law because access to water and sanitation are recognised at the United Nations as human rights,” he argued. The bill would fail to survive “the aisle curse” due to failure to garner the needed support from the ruling parties divide as antagonists to the bill like Minister of Water and sanitations, Kefentse Mzwinila saying that the bill will open a can of worms allowing people to settle in remote areas with expectations that government will cater for their needs.
The aisle curse went on to trouble democracy again throughout this year when Parliament rejected MP for Maun West, Dumelang Saleshando’s motion to amend the salaries and allowances bill for Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ntlo ya Dikgosi representatives. Saleshando proposed an amendment to a new clause which would pave way for the President to gain over P200,000 annually to be removed. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) MPs blocked the amendment, favouring their top executive despite government facing financial constraints. Parliament has evolved to be a demagogic political system in the real sense of the word.
For instance, Parliamentary votes are caucused for and made at the best interest of the party over and above the desires of the voters. This year again, Parliament poured water on MP for Maun East, Goretetse Kekgonegile's motion for government to waiver its stance of not compensating crop damage due to wild animals damage. The motion was tabled at the height of human wildlife conflict issues escalating in the North Western area of the country. Human wildlife capital poses a major security threat to the welfare of the people living in the North Western part of the country. Data from environmental organisations has suggested that Botswana is overpopulated with wild animals particularly elephants. According to Kekgonegile, the increase in the number of wild animals that government provides compensation for, should also be increased to cover animals such as Jackals and hyenas.
The motion was tabled with hindsight of a report published by the United Nations disaster and risk reduction department signalled a heightened increase in the risks around human wildlife conflict in the northern western part of Botswana. As of recent the Judiciary has attracted a hullabaloo over prayers brought before the court to allow parties to monitor elections from their infancy. Parliament had a chance to avoid the miry clay back in 2021 when MP for Mahalapye, Yandani Boko tabled a motion for the House to amend the Electoral Act and dust it off of undue and unfair practices.
Amongst many other things, Boko wanted the Independent Electoral Commission to be moved from being a subset of the Ministry of State President and that the Commission’s personnel appointment be removed from the whims of political power. Thwarting the motion, Minister of Presidential affairs, Kabo Morwaeng said that elections in Botswana have always been carried out in a squeaky clean manner that needed no further intervention to strengthen the electoral process.