Sullying the beautiful game

Mmegi Editor | Tuesday July 15, 2014 12:33

And he could not have been more in the right! Right from the start, politics has befouled the constituency league affair, from when Shaw Kgathi – speaking at a rally – fingered the Botswana Congress Party as the whistleblower.

The political blamestorm and the fact that the beautiful game had well and truly become political fodder, was epitomised by a heated exchange between Kgathi and BCP Mogoditshane parliamentary hopeful, MacDonald Rakgare on Duma FM.

Blurred lines being characteristic of politics, it was unclear during the radio argument whether Kgathi was speaking as the Sports Minister or Bobirwa MP or whether Rakgare was responding as a parliamentary hopeful or journalist.

Feeling left out in the topical “soup of the day” the Botswana National Front Youth League released a statement claiming responsibility for having reported Botswana to FIFA over the constituency league affair. It is not in question that the higher an administrative matter climbs, it will at some point interact with politics, given the bureaucratic structure where ruling parties and their policies influence government at senior echelons.

Botswana is not unique here as even Democrat policies and standpoints permeate the US administration through senior office-bearers.

However, as Reikeletseng has noted, it is unacceptable that political parties and their opinions interfere with day-to-day public office administration, particularly given that these offices and their staff are funded by all taxpayers, not just those associated with a particular party. In Botswana, the Botswana National Sport Council is recognised by law as being the mother body of all sports codes in Botswana, overseeing them and even disciplining them, for the promotion of sport within and outside the country.

By law, political parties’ involvement ended when their legislative representatives enacted the BNSC Act. Their only other avenue for expression is to order the responsible Minister to account to Parliament.  This is what mature democracies call “separation of powers,” a concept apparently foreign to our politicians who thrive in maelstroms of blurred lines, frenzied blamestorming and posturing.

As Reikeletseng said, the constituency league affair is “a sports administration issue and should be left in that context to sports administrators”.

By engaging in public verbal brawls over the constituency league, our politicians have actually betrayed their indifference to sports development in that they consider any issue to be fair game for political currency. It was never about football and the upliftment of lives. It was always about scoring political points and maybe detouring a vote or two from one’s rival in order to be sent to parliament and continue the cheap shots.

                                                             Today’s thought

“What is the primary purpose of a political leader? To build a majority. If [voters] care about parking lots, then talk about parking lots.”

 

                                                             – Newt Gingrich