BCP shadow cabinet Appreciated

Mmegi Editor | Thursday March 20, 2014 11:18

Shadow cabinets, while new to Botswana, are universally acceptable practice in advanced democracies. The idea of a shadow cabinet is not new. In the 1990s, the Botswana National Front, during the days of the late Dr Kenneth Koma, the idea had been mooted but never took off.

In the United Kingdom, when the Labour Party was in power, the Conservatives kept them accountable through the arrangement. Even in neighbouring South Africa, the opposition Democratic Alliance has a shadow cabinet. The concept of shadow cabinet is indeed a good move since the appointed leaders can concentrate  on specific portfolios and address issues as and when they arise. They can afford to engage the public and Batswana will also be able to scrutinise their readiness to take over the reigns.  A shadow cabinet will be especially good in today’s Botswana that is grappling with a multitude of problems. Among the many challenges Botswana has, are the recent debilitating power and water outages, something many observers reason may lead to job loses and an increase in unemployment.  This in turn will lead to an increase in crime, and the prison population.  This then means that someone in the opposition should be monitoring and readily availing alternative solutions. This should also in turn speak to the electorate who for many years has had to listen to opposition politicians’ complaints and dismissive attitude to everything government offers, without giving specific alternatives that are real.  More interesting about the BCP shadow cabinet is that it has also addressed some of the pertinent issues on gender and youth representation.

Dumelang Saleshando, the BCP leader and the shadow president for the country, has drawn in five women against the two in the current Botswana Democratic Party government and two assistant shadow ministers, balancing well with the current state.  Also of significance is that the BCP has shown its intentions by focusing on education as a key and important sector, sub-dividing the current Education into two - basic and higher education. 

One of the problems of governance in this country – not just in the BDP government but also opposition party structures – is that the communication and public relations issues are centralised, around the presidency.  The BCP seems to have followed the same model of  government.

It is hoped that  the BCP shadow cabinet will be in a position to act and speak freely on matters of concern, and not refer to the central information desk in the presidency.   In appreciating the BCP move, we wonder if the other opposition grouping which BNF party to, the Umbrella for Democratic Change, will take heed and avail its own model of governance. That way, Batswana will be in a position to judge, weigh and appreciate what can, and should be on the table post October.

 

Today’s thought

“Inspiring scenes of people taking the future of their countries into their own hands will ignite greater demands for good governance and political reform elsewhere in the world, including in Asia and in Africa”.

 

– William Hague