We welcome the new foreign policy

Mmegi Editor | Tuesday June 10, 2014 14:20

We have no clear idea on how to deal with matters such as inter-boundary disputes, assistance, diplomacy, regional development, or unconstitutional ousting of governments. We have had no direction whatsoever as to what our positions will be as and when these matters arise.

A lot has been said about the Israel-Palestine conflict, the political instability in Zimbabwe, war in Iraq, the Arab Spring, and the ousting of Egypt’s first elected president Mohammed Morsi in July by the army.

Now there is talk that Botswana is gearing to formulate a foreign policy document. 

Last week’s news from the Public Accounts Committee is indeed inspiring – that the government is finally drafting a foreign policy that will be disseminated to other stakeholders by end of this year.  We hope by next April, the document will be in full operation and part of our statutory landscape.

This will not only protect the integrity of a sitting president after the October general elections, it will also guard against abuse of presidential powers.

Yes, the foreign policy will also give us a clear position on Swaziland - a monarchy that does not allow dissenting voices or any public gatherings, and uses excessive force to silence its critics. The list is endless.

What we have witnessed recently has been scary. Our leaders have been dismissive of their counterparts in other countries to the extent of calling them demeaning names.

Who would forget that time our Foreign Affairs Minister called a head of another state a boy and an illegitimate president?

The policy will also help us as a nation to understand our relationship with international organisations, and our neighbouring states to which many of our compatriots travel.

Lastly, it is our hope that the drafting of the policy and its finalisation will take on board the comments or concerns raised by the other two arms of government - the legislature and the judiciary. 

We hope that civil society, whose voice has been fading over the years, will also have an opportunity to make an input.

                                                             Today’s thought

“Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, because human rights is the very soul of our sense of nationhood.”

 

                                                                                 - Jimmy Carter