Khama�s cabinet reshuffle: Glaring and dramatic leadership failure
Correspondent | Thursday April 3, 2014 12:04
This is a strange development and one that clearly demonstrates the failure of leadership on the part of President Khama. He does not have the courage to dismiss a non-performing Minister but instead he elects to appease her with some undefined and ambiguous position within the ministry.
The other three ministers namely Shaw Kgathi at Presidential Affairs; Mokgweetsi Masisi at Education and Vincent Seretse have been doled acting Ministerial appointments. It is only logical if not sensible for ministers to act when there is a vacancy or when the incumbent is absent for whatever reason.
In the case of the reshuffle in question, none of the two scenarios obtain. The incumbents are present and serving in cabinet. Why then do we have temporary appointments? This, to those who may not know, is a clear sign of a government in paralysis; a government that is rudderless and a government groping in the dark. These are the actions of a panic stricken government that ignored electorates concerns for five years and hopes to address them in five months. Since assuming office President Khama pursued misplaced and self-fulfilling priorities.
He has prioritised security over education; wildlife over cattle and charity over job creation. President Khama has abandoned rational planning in favour of whimsical decision-making. He has failed to stimulate industrialisation but instead delivered petty pet projects. He has eroded our democracy and curtailed civil liberties. Time has caught up with him and he is orchestrating some sterile tactics to hoodwink electorates into thinking that he is responsive to their concerns. He is trying to redeem himself by embarking on some political ‘çhess’ game to pacify an increasingly restless electorate.
The cabinet reshuffle by President Khama is a desperate move and it shall in no way address the pressing problems affecting our education system nor will it in any significant measure improve the track record of the Botswana Democratic Party Government. As the BCP, we have called for the resignation of Venson-Moitoi for sometime now but the President did not heed our call.
After so much damage has been effected to our education system and after such grave consequences have been visited on the future of our children, President Khama’s action is inconsequential and mundane. Five months will elapse before Masisi can appreciate the breadth and challenges of the education sector. The poor ‘pawns’ in Kgathi and Seretse will be torn between the political campaigns and understanding the breadth and challenges of their new ministries.
They can hardly deliver anything of worth in the short period of five months. President Khama’s political theatrics on an election eve must be treated by all serious minded people in this country as a circus that should not be graced by any audience At BCP we view President Khama’s failure of leadership failure as glaring and dramatic for everyone to notice. The recent cabinet reshuffle is just one manifestation of such. The failure to deliver major infrastructural projects on time under Khama is almost a norm.
This President has presided over embarrassing levels of project implementation failure. All major projects have not been delivered on time and cost escalations have been massive. The stadiums, the senior schools, roads, airports and Morupule B-are but some of the monuments of failure of Khama’s regime. As for Morupule B, 11 billion pula has been spent so far just to deliver darkness. The beef industry has suffered a major knock under Khama. BMC is on its knees. Foot and Mouth continues to impoverish Batswana.
Many Batswana still remain landless. Some have been waiting in plot allocation queues for over 20 years.BDP is fatigued and President Khama has failed Batswana. As the BCP we present ourselves as an alternative Our shadow cabinet has presented the nation with men and women with the requisite skills, experience, vision, energy and passion to move this country forward. On the 26 April, 2014, the BCP shall present to the people of Botswana ,its prospectus for governance- we shall launch our manifesto that shall lead Botswana out of the crossroads. We thus seek your mandate to govern this country as from October 2014.
Taolo Lucas: (BCP Information and Publicity Secretary)