A letter to the President
Ryder Gabathuse | Tuesday August 5, 2025 09:19
Before I even forget, I should recognise that you are the gladiator because of your reputation as a legal hawk of repute. Certainly, you have become the cynosure of all eyes because of the nature of the office you hold.
As the helmsman in a country that once had a robust economy, ranked among the middle-income economies, I appreciate how exasperated you must be when the diamond-led economy fails to support your vision, as the economy is almost on its knees.
Mr President, there are certain decisions that you can contentedly make that do not border on the state of the country’s economy. Although I may differ with you on certain decision-making processes, I admire your bravery in arriving at certain conclusions, no matter how controversial they may seem. Sometimes, you speak your mind, but in some instances, you have disappointedly failed to provide sufficient evidence to win the hearts and minds of even your followers.
We know that as our President, everything you say and do is taken seriously and might go down in history books as part of your legacy as the head of State and government. Before I even forget, I must also hail you for your fashion sense. You are always dapper and modish. But, that is not the point I am trying to make.
Remember, I have written a story before about your incessant attacks on the local media. I also want to concede that I run the risk of retelling what I have already published. Please, understand that the main reason is simply to make an emphasis so that you don’t miss out on how we think about some of your commentaries.
From the way you fashion out your reactions and comments in your various addresses, I am tempted to doubt if you read the local publications, listen to the radio stations, and so forth. I also want to remind the President that the media has never claimed to be infallible in the execution of their duties. There could be bad elements, but the worst is yet to come.
You will recall that in the run-up to the 2024 polls, you had decided to cross the border into the neighbouring South Africa, where you told your campaign story through different television stations whilst we were still chasing for your confirmation of interviews at our media houses. I am, however, privileged that during the presidential nomination day ahead of the General Election last October at the High Court, I had the opportunity to briefly interview you.
Early this year, Mr. President, you were hailed for your pragmatism in pursuit of a human rights-oriented government, with a promise for a high degree of tolerance and appreciation of the local media as a tool that advances the cause of democracy.
I want to draw your attention to a previous meeting that was also attended by various senior government officials, where you started off by recognising members of the Fourth Estate and the work that they are doing, “including the spread of fake news.” I think I will not be quoting you out of context if I remind you about what you told a Cabinet retreat held at the Pavilion conference facility in Gaborone to defend freedom of expression.
“I was reading last night, reminding myself of freedom of expression.
And I reminded myself that freedom of expression must be defended, even most when it hurts. Not only when it flatters. Because sometimes it flatters only to deceive.”
These words uttered by you, His Excellency, spoke well about your intentions in dealing with the local media, including tolerating what you perceive to be the press’ shortcomings. You had promised to give the Fourth Estate the space that they deserve, so that they operate without undue external influence. You even sowed the good seed that went a long way in to influencing your lieutenants.
You also indicated to your audience that when freedom of expression “hurts us, we must put our bodies in line for defence. Freedom of expression is one of the most important fundamental rights that are enshrined in the Constitution.”
This particular statement promised tolerance from your government. What really happened, less than six months down the line? The gap that exists now lies in your inability to tell us how the media has wronged you.
Although you have not said it in plain terms, a big question now is what has happened between January (the time the President made a call on freedom of expression and now?)
In an earlier sweeping statement you made, you actually lambasted the local press alleging 90 % of media reports are fake, triggering a heated response from the practitioners calling your assessment ‘fake’. Truly, the President’s observation is grossly inaccurate and misleading to say the least, as it’s not based on any empirical evidence or research. All in all, it seems the President moved from rationality to arguing with emotions as reflected in his baseless statistics, as a fellow journalist recently observed. I am inclined to agree with this school of thought.
Mr President, you seem to have changed heart as of late you have sustained an onslaught on the local media calling it all sorts of names. It’s however, clear that you have not been telling us where it has all gone wrong.
In a democratic dispensation like ours under the UDC rule, it will be suicidal for the media and government to have an adversarial relationship just because it can happen. It’s healthy for your government to allow healthy debate around a flurry of issues including our state of democracy.
Twice, in a short space of time at both the Botswana National Front (BNF) elective congress in Palapye and at a Ghanzi Agricultural Show, Boko took a swipe at the media condemning them for failing the craft with their ‘misrepresentations’ and ‘deliberate distortions of the truth’. His utterances are fuelling unnecessary tension between himself and the media as in Palapye some of the BNF’s unruly operatives recently passed nasty remarks to the media further creating an unnecessary wedge in their endeavours to emulate Boko.
In Ghanzi Boko even shed light on the latest developments remarking that he appreciates the media even when it fights and him fighting the media. Without specifying a crime committed by the scribes, Boko expects the best from the media insisting media reports should be accurate cautioning against misleading and defaming reports from some sections of the media.
From his Ghanzi address, it seems the cat-and –mouse incursions between the media and him will go a long way into defining the not-so-admirable relationship. He even quoted letters ploughed in the national newspapers penned by both Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana secretariat and Botswana Editors Forum that have lately been fretted by Boko’s utterances, which they feel reflect the President’s intolerance of the local media.
As a country, Botswana is in the middle of a process in which the Boko-led government is reviewing all media laws and there are debates about the wisdom of embracing statutory regulation of the media. Therefore, a senior journalist observed that Boko’s comments suggest any regulation of the media in Botswana is likely to be politically self-serving.
The senior scribe further observed that Boko in opposition was a darling of the media, “in power like most African leaders he is beginning to exhibit worrying idiosyncratic tendencies - showing a propensity to react negatively to constructive criticism.” He describes the development as a situation unlikely to improve in the short term especially with shortfalls in government revenues and plans to roll out extensive social safety nets.
During happier times President Boko had assured the nation during his inauguration last October that he was open to criticism, but barely six months into office, Mr President, the pendulum is swinging in the wrong direction. It is alarming and concerning.
I remember recently when I spoke to Sunday Standard editor and publisher, Outsa Mokone he decried that attack against the media by the President is not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern “and we should be very worried, not only for free speech but for democracy in general.”
The senior scribe even said democracy being government of the people by the people, requires that any true democratic leader should have a natural inclination to credit all citizens with the right and competence to influence the process of government,” but what we are seeing is a President who discredits everybody; lawyers, judges, journalists and MPs except himself.
“Any presumed democratic leader who believes he is the only one with the competence to influence the agenda of governance is innately a dictator masquerading as an advocate of democracy.” He stressed that media freedom comes with a responsibility, which involves reporting that is accurate and lives up to the ethos of journalism.
He added that fake also implies malice by the way and excludes whatever honest mistake may crop up in reportage. Blanket condemnations, in this light, he said don’t help and could inflame public hostility towards a critical institution in our democracy.
Before I conclude, allow me to borrow from a media scholar as captured in a media studies book entitled, institutions, theories and issues. Roelofse (1996:48-60) argues that since governments generally have the power to restrict newspapers’ criticism of government, and since the press usually assumes a surveillance role on behalf of civil society, tensions and conflicts between these two institutions are natural and to be expected. The power that governments claim for themselves usually conflicts with the democratic right of freedom of speech, a right which is important to newspapers as it enables them to perform their functions properly. My plea to Boko is to duly play the fatherly role in the nation and treat the media as a player in our democratic dispensation and not as an enemy of the State.
Mr President, if you have issues with the local media, please use the right channels that are available like addressing media practitioners through the local chapter of MISA, Editors Forum and others. Attacking and condemning the media might continue sparking retaliation from the scribes. Already an impression has been created that your government is hell-bent on assaulting the Fourth Estate. As a fraternity, we need you Mr President and certainly you need the press in the dissemination of your government’s plans. Let there be peace Mr President! I also want to bring your attention to the Setswana adage: “Ntwa kgolo ke ya molomo.”