As leaders put pen to paper�

Mmegi Editor | Tuesday March 18, 2014 11:42

The revelations contained in the book are indeed as astonishing as they are depressing.  Two years later, the former president Sir Ketumile Masire also shared his experience in the memoirs. Masire’s successor, Festus Mogae is also in the process of publishing an autobiography.

First woman Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Margaret Nasha is also scheduled to launch her autobiography this Thursday, in which she shares her experience in the three decades she worked in the civil service as a reporter, diplomat, minister, and then Speaker of the National Assembly.  Retired vice president Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe is also reported to be working on a book, which we are yet to lay our hands on. All these are signs of growth as a democratic state that aspires for transparency, although such endevour is a challenge whilst one is in office. We commend these champions for sharing their experiences with the whole world, and particularly our nation, which is still in the infancy stage. Unfortunately, there are those who advocate for the nation not to read and it is our hope they will change one day.

These books or autobiographies have potential to boost national interest in reading, across all generations since the writers are still with us. They are a living example of hard work, perseverance, and dedication. Writing is good for any nation particularly one that purports to be a democracy. A good example is the United States of America (USA), although centuries older than our democracy. This is one nation that embraced transparency from its establishment.

This is reflected in their constitutional guarantees to freedom of the press and expression and their support for such liberties. Almost every government building in many cities in America are engraved  with quotations from the Constitution, the pioneers of information flow in media, politicians, and army commanders who made the country what it is today.  It is also through movies, documentaries, comedies and television magazine programmes that the US culture of freedom of expression and commitment to transparency is reflected.

Of course the country is not perfect as revealed by the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the Edward Snowden scandal, recent reports of spying on other countries, and others.  The country has also been accused of sponsoring military coups around the world. However, these do not necessarily kill the fact that the nation believes in the aforementioned freedoms.

It is our hope that we will continue to get more books, homemade documentaries, or even films from other individuals who have worked in the Botswana Government, including those whose mandate is to spy on unsuspecting members of the public.