Masisi�s defence misses the point

| Thursday February 20, 2014 16:24

Since he came to power six years ago, the President has never bothered to attend these important events. However, he has attended every meeting of Conservation International (CI), an organisation concerned with conservation of wildlife. He recently attended the London Illegal Wildlife Trade conference where he addressed delegates.

In defending the President, Masisi said his juniors, Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Phandu Skelemani, always attend on the President’s behalf.

The United Nations, as the ultimate body where heads of state present their cases, their worldview and offer possible solutions to irksome problems, cannot be ignored by any leader, least of all of relatively small countries like Botswana, this being the one forum whose ultimate aim is to prevent the outbreak of war at any scale. Even in our Setswana custom, it is the head of the family who must represent his or her brood where important issues are discussed. 

It is clearly in the interests of a country like Botswana - which is struggling to attract Foreign Direct Investment, unemployment and poverty - to interact with the international community through no less a personage than the President. Granted many other countries have similar problems, but their leaders take every opportunity to present their peculiar cases to the world.

Khama must of necessity follow suit, especially that he has been vocal on international issues, condemning unconstitutional changes of government across the African continent, ranting against civil wars in Syria and other hot spots, and railing against world powers like Russia and China for their handling of the Syrian conflict.  This is the behaviour of one eager to change but one who strangely shuns the best forum from which to do so.  The President’s dismissal of these august forums tends to support the view that he looks favourably upon CI only for selfish reasons.  After all, it is common knowledge that Khama has investments in a number of tourism and hospitality establishments, lending credence to the view that he goes to CI for himself.

By contrast, the man seems not too bothered with the welfare of Batswana, except his occasional distribution of alms in the form of blankets and rare bowls of warm food to the dirt poor whose display on TV he ensures. But dismissing the UN and the AU - august forums that he considers a waste of time in interviews that portray him as a liberal - will ultimately sell us short.

Imagine our president at the UN, telling the world powers to stop the war in Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, or Central African Republic, as a matter of urgency; What about our president having a relaxed chat with Angela Merkel on how Germany can help us build a power station on our own?

                                                                           Today’s thought

“More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that is why we have the United Nations.”

 

                                                                          – Kofi Annan