Quo Vadis Botswana? Well Done South Africa!
Dumi Mmualefe | Monday May 12, 2014 17:03
It is endemic, an epidemic that has hit our region like a tsunami! As we wait with abated breath and hope that more of us go and register, the South Africans have done so in large numbers. More than 25 million people have registered to cast their votes.
Voting has indeed started in earnest. People started queuing in the early hours of the morning to cast their all-important votes.
The unfortunate thing is we have let a very important opportunity pass us by; an opportunity to benchmark through election observation. For whatever it takes the decision to boycott observing elections of our neighbours was and would remain unfortunate.
Granted, observer missions have been, most of the time not as useful. The problem has been and will continue to be that our governments and Sadc seem to think one can determine the fairness and freeness of elections by observing the casting of votes.
Election is a process. Democracy is not an event. Those who rig elections by commission or omission do that long before the election or vote-casting date.
Elections are rigged when democratic playing fields are designed in such a way that they are lopsided. A playing field must be even. At the heart of FIFA rules and morality is a short cliché “Fair play!”
The playing field should never advantage or disadvantage any team. A pre-rigged game is not worth playing and this is the African demon-crazy game! Before we cast a vote of no confidence in our neighbours’ running of their elections or Sadc for that matter, we need to introspect lest there is a log in our eye. The problem with having a log in one’s eye is that it blocks, not just diminishes one’s vision. So we would do Africa and the world good by having a reality check.
We thank God that the President has reconsidered the stance of not observing elections of other Sadc member states.
Having said that, I dare re-emphasise that the problem is bigger than the numbers that are given after counting of ballots, the problem is how we reach the casting and counting. It is also true that numbers can be doctored but that is not the major problem as I have said, and thanks to God we are honest enough not to do that.
There is no way around this; until the playing field in Botswana is level, we cannot boast about being more democratic. The use of public media to promote one political party and not others is an indictment on our democracy.
This renders our elections anything but fair. I watched the space after the launch of both the Botswana Congress Party President and manifesto and my heart bled.
I cried because the same event by the Botswana Democratic Party was not only given prominence in the Botswana Television news but was repeated as a special programme on the same public television.
I have heard arguments suggesting that the Botswana Television and Daily News are state media not public broadcasters. Call them what you wish but they are financed by the public; the same people who are BDP, BCP, BNF, BMD and BPP. We own these media houses and I make no apology about it and we are all concerned.
Let the truth be said: Botswana Congress Party deserved as much coverage. It is unfortunate to say they will do the same when or if they take over.
It is wrong now and it will not be right then! I pray that we as Batswana would embrace the spirit of fairness as we approach our elections. Let us be mindful that vote casting day is but a culmination of a democratic election, it is not itself an election.
Until such a time that there is political party funding our election will never be fair. The status quo could have worked in the past but it is not working now.
Granted it has stunted our democracy but now is the time to effect positive change towards fairness and justice.
As we proudly stroll towards our golden jubilee and run towards the anticipated 2016, let us move there embracing the value of “a compassionate and just society!”
We ought to never forget that “Botswana’s tradition of democracy is one of its strongest assets, and gives it the stability that it will need in the future.
This freedom should be balanced by a code of conduct for political activity and debate” (Vision 2016 Performance Report 2009).
This tradition and assets need nurturing. The code of conduct for political activity and debate should reflect on how we manage the playing field to balance this freedom and asset.
The same Performance Reports under point 7.3 that deals with “Some Vision Pillar 5 ‘Success Stories’” records; “The APC in Botswana is another example of how the democratic process has been strengthened in Botswana.
It is a body whose members comprise both the opposition and the ruling political party, the Botswana Democratic Party” (page 85).
That we no longer have the All Party Conference is an indictment on our democracy. This issue has been raised even in the National Assembly and we opted to engage in academic gymnastics to circumvent the truth and justice. It is a reversal of our “Success Story.”
I urge those in the corridors of power to protect the God given democracy, growing and nurturing it is not a choice it is what must be done. It is a talent that we have been given.
The “it has worked for us” or “why fix it if it is not broken” is what caused the worthless servant to be” cast into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth” after hiding the talent in the ground (Matthew 25:14-30).
May God help us commit more to our National Vision as we prepare for national elections! To God be the glory.